Natsu no E Picture of Summer
by Ryuu Angel
Summary: Incredible but true, CHAP 3 UP! It’s late June, and your mum just ruined your holidays by getting you a summer job you hate. But what if it involves living with a certain Van Fanel… in the same house, for two months? AU, VH obvious isn’t it ;)! PLZ
1. Prologue A phone call

**Natsu no E ~ Picture of Summer**

**~Prologue. A phone call~**

"Guess what"

"Hey, Hitomi, good to hear ya!! How's going, what's up?" Serena's voice crackled through the telephone line. 

"Couldn't be worse" the other girl moaned dramatically.

"So, what happened? Did you see a ghost or something, you sound horrible" the ash blond girl commented, while getting a grip on her glass full of lemon ice tea and fanning herself with a piece of paper. She was carelessly sitting on the sofa, blushing because of the horrible heat which seemed to flood the whole town.

"Worse than that!! Mum got me a job!!" Hitomi declared, dropping on her bed with a loud 'thud'; she frowned when she heard her friend laughing at the other end of the line. "It's not funny!!!!"

Serena tried to calm herself. "Yeah, you're right, it's not funny but you speak of it as if it was the end of the world! You're not gonna die, you know? Anyway, why did your mum get you one? I thought you'd told me you got great marks in your final exams, didn't you?"

Hitomi sighed. "That's it, but mum thinks that I've got to work anyway. She says I should start earning some money, to learn how these things work. Can you believe it?? And I can't say 'no' because she already arranged it all for me!" she groaned. 

Serena sighed, preparing herself for a long afternoon of complains and angry remarks from her friend. "Okay, okay, so tell me what's it about? What does your horrible job involve?" she asked.

The girl with huge sparkling green eyes snorted, as her eyes wandered over the ceiling of her room; she could hear the chatter of the busy people walking down the street of the city she lived in, Astria. She hated it there, but as she was locked up in boarding school from Monday to Friday in one of the most prestigious schools of the country, on the outskirts of the massive metropolis, she didn't mind that much.

She ran her hands through her long sandy blond hair, blessing the air conditioning in her room and the whole flat.

"Remember last year my granny brought up the idea of hiring our house in Fanelia?" she murmured in a nostalgic tone. Serena opened her mouth in disbelief.

"What??!! Don't tell me they're gonna hire it this summer!!!?? But Tomi, you were supposed to be coming here with your family, just like last summer!!!" she cried, sitting straight and stiff in the sofa. The girl at the other side of the phone line sighed, resignedly.

"Well… it's not like I'm not going to come to The Sparrow this year… but not with my family" she explained. The sandy blond girl closed her eyes for a second, letting the memories of the old house drift slowly in her mind. 

The Sparrow, the piece of land's name, was in the outskirts of her mum's village, Fanelia, near the northern coast of the country, and she loved the place dearly. She had lived there for the first fourteen years of her life, but when she turned fifteen her parents had decided to move to Astria, the capital of the province, so as to get Hitomi into Meifia Boarding School, and because her dad had been given a better job in the city, so the whole family had had to change residence. Since that moment, they had gone back to Fanelia for summer holidays, to their old house, and with Hitomi's old friends, who all lived in the village or in the small bunch of houses next to where hers was, only ten minutes away from the beach.

But last winter the house had been broken into, and Hitomi's grandma suggested them to hire the house, if they didn't want to sell it, in order to have someone there to keep an eye on things in case burglars thought of coming again. The girl had been against the idea immediately: she hated having some intruders in the place where she had so many happy childhood memories, but that summer things hadn't turned out to be the way she expected them to…

Serena frowned, sipping some ice tea and  waving her hand to get rid of some annoying flies that kept buzzing around her head. "So, what's exactly happening here? You're coming, but you're going to hire your old house?"

Hitomi sighed. "That's just what's going to happen" she clarified. "Look, my dad got an important offer for the whole summer, and he'll have to stay in Astria with my mum. So, she got a family to move into The Sparrow. And, as she knew I was dying to come here for the summer, she offered me as some kind of guide and babysitter for them" she muttered, her brows knitted into a frown. "It seems that these people have a girl, and I get to take care of her, do the house chores and guide them around Fanelia, 'cause they appear to be from Irini, you know…" she mocked, and Serena rolled her eyes. Irini was a terribly posh district of the capital of the country, Escaflowne, and usually only rich people could afford a house there.

"Man, they'll surely be some insufferable snobs… poor you" she sympathetically said, sighing and fanning her face faster. "But hey, won't you like taking care of the little girl? It'll be some kind of training for your later studies!" she tried to cheer her up, remembering that she wanted to study psychopedagogy.

"Nice try, Serena" the other girl said gloomily. "Sad to tell you it didn't work. Do you get what all this is going to be like? I'll have to stick around this family the whole summer, *two months*!!!! I won't be able to go out with you because these stupid snobs will want me to clean the house again and again, or will want me to show them around, and I'll have to be glued to the kid all the time!" she groaned.

"There, Hitomi, try being positive. Are there any good looking guys in the family?" she said mischievously. "Just think about it! It could be even fun…" but when she heard the snort of her friend, she decided for a quick change of subject. "Anyway, now you guess what… it's nearly July and you know what that means??" she frantically shouted. Hitomi arched her eyebrows.

"Eh… what?"

"Diet!!!! I've gotta start a diet, Tomi!!!" Serena desperately cried. Every summer the same story; after the end of classes you opened the forgotten drawer where you kept the swimming costumes and tops for holidays, and discovered in horror that you couldn't put on a lovely blue skirt that *had* fitted you perfectly last summer. "I should've started it last week, but I completely forgot and now I'll have no time!!" she panicked.

Hitomi's lips curved into a small smile, shaking her head. Back in Fanelia, she'd always shared those diets with her friend, eating carrots instead of chocolate donuts for a week or two until in the end Serena got tired of it all and decided to quit. 

"So, what's this year? The watermelon diet, the cabbage soup diet?" she ventured, as her fingers stumbled upon the remote control of her tv set; she switched it on and channel-hopped until she got tired and left a documentary about some crazy scientist speaking about his theories of Atlantis.

"No!" Serena said triumphantly. "The Onion Diet! I saw it on tv, they said you get instant results in three days!!"

Hitomi sighed. "You're never going to change, huh?" she grinned. How she missed Fanelia and her friends… "Is… is Allen there?" she said quietly, and Serena adopted a concerned expression.

"Er… yes, he's upstairs, playing some new computer game with Amano kun, you know them… they're like small kids" she joked. "Do… do you want me to get him?"

The green eyed girl remained silent for a few seconds, and then shook her head. "No… better if you don't, I guess. How is he?"

"Well, doing really well… he got the best marks in his class, and… oh, wow…"

"What is it?" Hitomi asked, sensing the astonishment in her friend's voice. 

Serena's smile echoed in her words. "It's Dryden… he's walking up my street… with an umbrella! Can you believe it??"

Hitomi burst out laughing. "Yeah, that kinda sounds a lot like Dryden" she chuckled. In that same moment she heard the door bell ringing; her parents were back from work, and then she remembered in horror that she was supposed to collect her little brother Mamoru at basketball practice that afternoon.

"Oh my gosh, Serena I gotta go right now, I'll see you around next week I'm coming to clean up the house with mum if they haven't killed me for leaving Mamochan at basket!!" she hastily muttered, hugging up the phone speaker without giving the other girl time to say goodbye.

Serena listened at the intermittent peep of the cut line for a second, and then put down the phone as well. It was going to be a really interesting summer…

Tbc~

A/N: So, what do you think of it?? Should I go on with it?? I guess I don't need to say whose family is going to stay at Hitomi's, right? ^_~ I was complaining about summer jobs as well, but I wouldn't mind doing the girl's one for once!!! I would build a monument to my mum if she got me such a good job sigh but these things never happen to me… Ah, in case anyone knows a diet that works, pleez tell me :p I'll be grateful forever more [just as well as if you review ^^]

_Okay, on with the begging… PLEASE REVIEEEEW and tell me if you want me to write on!!! _

_Ryuu ^_^_


	2. Breakdown

Disclaimer: If anyone knows how I can become the owner of Esca, send me a line so that I can skip this part next time! *sighs*

Thank you soo much to everybody who reviewed!!  ^_^ replies at the end of the chapter. 

Emmm… a short note before the long writing… please all Allen haters, don't kill me for what follows, I promise I'll make it up for you in good time *sweatdrops* It is quite longer than the prologue, just hope that you don't mind so plz give it a try ^^!!! Ah… and also plz forgive any mistakes you may find around here *cough cough* still working on that *uneasy laughter*

**Natsu no E ~ Picture of Summer**

**~Chapter 1. Breakdown~**

Someday my prince will come  
Someday we'll meet again  
And away to his castle we'll go  
To be happy forever I know  
Someday when spring is here  
We'll find her love anew  
And the birds will sing and wedding bells will ring  
Someday when my dreams come true

Ayumi Hamasaki, "Someday my prince will come"

~~~

He walked down the street heading for his house, at just a five-minute walk from where he was now. 

A line of huge detached houses and chalets stood neatly in place, with huge green gardens closed by low wooden fences or hedges in some cases. Trees shaded the road ahead him, and a bunch of kids riding bright and expensive bicycles rode pass him, absorbed in a race game down the street.

He whistled while strolling nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets and his schoolbag, now half empty, swinging lightly, hanging from his left shoulder. His fingers played with a folded letter in his trousers' back pocket, smiling absentmindedly as he did so. 

Another love letter. Again in his locker at high school. 

And, again, remained unnoticed until Jajuka came to the rescue of the poor piece of paper and made him notice it, stuffed between his math book and history notes photocopied from his friend's.

"Seems that girls know how to make the most of their time at school before having you gone to some small village for the whole summer" Jajuka had joked, and Van, a faint blush staining his sun-colored cheeks, had shrugged, trying to play it down. They noticed a group of girls a few meters away from where they were standing, one of them hiding her face behind a locker door, and the other five ones giggling and shooting side glances to them all the time. Van gulped and clumsily unfolded the note, reading through it quickly.

"It's from Miyuki" he murmured, and Jajuka let out a long whistling sound.

"Miyuki Sato, you mean that babe in class C? Oh, Van, you could at least leave some for the rest!" his friend poked him in the ribs, and the raven haired boy at his side frowned, the girl called Miyuki still peeking over the locker door to see if her letter had had any positive effect. It was their last day at school, and all her friends had encouraged her to make a move on the most popular guy in the whole place. Van Slanzar Fanel, 1 A, was really an institution in Hispano High School, but he had never dated a girl in his life, and nobody knew about any love conquests in discos and similar places.

When the coal black haired youth threw his last notebooks and schoolbooks in his bag and turned to leave with Jajuka, the girls knew that the letter's purpose had failed.

Van felt really sorry for all the girls that kept sending him love notes and such things all the time, but he truly liked none of them. In his school, a posh place where you were looked down on if the clothes you were wearing weren't considered classy of stylish enough, he hadn't found the kind of girl he was looking for. Jajuka had asked him many times what was she like, but he simply didn't know yet. "I'll know when I meet her" he had told him back then.

Poor Miyuki, I hope she's alright he thought, shoving the paper back into his pocket and checking his watch. Okay, half an hour and I'm off to kendo practice he planned, sighing. At last, holidays!! 

It had been a very tough year, the year before college, having to pick up a major and decide what degree he was going to study, and where… and his parents were tearing their hair out because he still didn't know.

Well, Jaira spends her whole life doing that he chuckled, referring to his stepmother. She complained about him nor his brother having found any girlfriend yet, about his dad for not having changed his job for anything better, about Merle quitting her ballet classes… and the list went on and on, up to complains about the massive whale fishing in Japan and Norway, global warming, or the sudden rise of the prices in her favorite boutique.

He dodged a soccer ball flying centimeters away from his face, and then sent it with a powerful kick back to the Godashim's house, where it had come from. A blond mop of hair peeped from behind a low white fence.

"Thanks, Van!!" a childish voice said, and he smiled, walking up to the wooden planks and tousling the little boy's hair.

"Be more careful next time, okay?" he said, and the boy with big blue eyes smiled, letting Van admire two holes in his white teeth. "Whoa, lost other two, Chid?" the raven haired youth smiled, and the kid nodded solemnly.

"Yeah. Mom said that if I put them tonight under my bed pillow a fairy will come and leave me a present" he beamed, and Van chuckled.

"That's right. And tomorrow you'll tell me what you were given?" he smiled.

"Of course! But mamma said that you're going away on Monday, is it true, Van??" the small kid asked, and he smiled softly. He had grown very fond of the five-year-old kid. 

"Yes, I'm going for the summer, but don't worry, I'll bring you a present back" he promised, and Chid smiled, calming down a bit. 

He heard his stepmother's shout greeting him from the garden next to Chid's, and after rushing to say good bye to the blue eyed kid that was his neighbor, he ran up the emerald green lawn in front of his house, saying hello to Jaira, who was mowing the grass as the sprinklers showered tiny water drops all over her.

Hm, I could do with a shower like that now he smiled, his face flushed from the run, taking a deep breath when he closed the main door, leaving the heat outside. From the half open kitchen window, the tall brunette woman's voice in the lawn called him.

"Van! Don't forget to phone back your flute teacher! Do you remember that he called yesterday while you were at team practice at school?" Jaira shouted, and the raven haired boy nodded as he eased himself a glass of water from a jug in the fridge.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll call in a second" he assured her, and the ran upstairs to his room. Finally. Out of school. No more exams bugging him, no more snooping teachers bossing him around. He had freedom for two wonderful months. Only that he was going to spend them somewhere miles and miles away from what he knew, from his friends. 

He dropped his schoolbag on the bed mattress and turned on his computer. His dad had told him that, 'of course', he couldn't bring along with him his playstation to that small village where they were going to spend their holidays, but Goau had told him that the girl in the house had a computer, so he just hoped that she'd let him use it.

He was actually a little bit nervous about all this: he knew that in a small town like Fanelia they would be the main attraction, some kind of exotic people to talk about and gossip during long summer evenings at the local pub. He had never been very sociable, and he was a little apprehensive about having to start from zero and make new friends if he didn't want to live like a hermit for the whole summer. 

And then, there was the girl living with them. Will she be nice? And she's my same age… he gulped. Would she be friendly? He fervently hoped that she was, and then maybe she could introduce him to the rest of young people around; Van did know that coming from a very posh district in the capital wouldn't make his staying there easy, but if he could stand on the girl's side, he at least would have some chance to enjoy himself over the summer. 

I bet she must be nice if she's to take care of Merle… and will she be pretty too? he wondered, blushing. The idea of living with a beautiful girl for two months didn't sound horrible at all…

Of course, it can happen, and it cannot… perhaps she's not pretty, but very nice. That would be okay too…

He checked his watch again, and realized it was past time to get ready for kendô practice, so he scribbled down a note for her sister warning her not to download and install rubbish on his computer while he was away, instead of playing cards or chatting, as she always claimed to be doing, and picked his practice clothes, leaving for the gym. Other two days, and his real holidays were going to start.

***

She was sitting on the cold stone balustrade, her head tilted backwards against the wall and her eyes lost in the night sky above her. A soft breeze had swept away the heat of the day, and there wasn't a single cloud in the clear blue, hundreds of starts twinkling, as if they were winking at her. 

Hitomi was aching all over because of the hard day of work she'd had, just to start cleaning up the house. The newcomers would arrive in two days' time, and there was still lots of work to be done.

Her mother had driven her up to Fanelia, while Mamoru and her dad had stayed at their flat in the city, as her little brother had a match tomorrow morning and he was all excited about it.

I didn't get to see _him_ she sighed, rather disappointed. She had phoned Serena again to tell her that she was coming over, but she had had to spend the whole afternoon at her grandparents' house, down in the village, and she had been cursing her bad luck, sure that Allen and the others had come to visit her and had found nobody at The Sparrow.

Just my bad, bad luck she told herself with a sigh, mentally recalling what her day had been like. First, cleaning non stop all the bedrooms in the house, four actually, and the studying room….

~"Okay, now tell me: who are they?" she had asked plainly, and her mother, Sachiko, smiled at her daughter's vehemence, as she smoothened some crinkles on the bed sheets she had just made.

"As I told you, the Fanel family comes from Escaflowne…" she started, and Hitomi cut her off with an impatient gesture.

"Yeah, you told me that, Irini nevertheless. How come we got some snobs to come here, I thought that this place wasn't precisely a tourist spot! That's over Arzas Beach, isn't it? And how did they happen to know about the Sparrow? And-"

"Hitomi, dear, I can't answer so many questions at the same time! For heaven's sake, wait a second and I'll tell you" her mother chuckled, as her daughter dusted a book case irritably. "It seems that the mother of the boys had been here when she was a child, and remembered the place, so when she asked for some house to rent over here, they gave them our phone number, and that's the end of the story" Sachiko calmly moved on to the next room, and opened the shutters to let the warm sunrays in. Hitomi followed, still frowning a bit.

"All right… and who are they, how many are they, what am I supposed to do with them!?" she inquired again, pouting loudly. Her mother shook her head with a sweet smile and sighed.

"Ah, dear, don't worry, they aren't going to blow up the house!" she chuckled, and the green eyed girl snorted, starting to sweep the dusty floor. "I think they must be very nice… they have three kids, the mother told me that the eldest is studying Genetic Engineering at the Phytia Superior Studies University" Sachiko explained, and Hitomi rolled her eyes. "The middle one is about your age, so you should get on well with him, and the last one is thirteen and her name's Merle. She's the girl you'll have to take care of" she smiled, but her daughter didn't look so happy.

"Oooh lovely, I bet she'll be a spoiled and greedy child who will complain about everything" she muttered.

"Hitomi, I want you to be nice to them, we've already been through this" warned Sachiko with a grave look in her blue eyes, and she waved her hand hurriedly.

"Yeah, yeah I know" she sighed, taking some more sheets from the wardrobe to make the double bed in the room.~

A shooting star crossed the sky for a moment, and she closed her eyes. I wish… I wish to be with _him_ again; then she opened her green pools again; at her right side, in the distance could be seen the silhouette of a beautiful mountain rimmed in the moonlight, beyond the shades and murmurs of the dark shadows trees that were before her eyes. There was a forest beginning a few meters away from the house, now waving and sighing as the wind rustled through their fresh green leafs. 

Turning her emerald eyes to the other side, she spotted the silver glimmer of the waves crowned with foam and touched by moonlight, the small part of the bay that could be seen among the trees surrounding the house. 

Soft music was playing inside the room connected to the terrace where she was; she sighed once more, feeling relaxed and intensely happy. She felt at home there.

Suppressing a yawn, she stretched and went into the room, her bare foot making no sound on the tiled floor. The coldness of the tiles was a like a blessing, she had always loved walking barefooted, but her mother was always complaining about it. Just wearing a sleeveless undergarment shirt she had sneaked out of his dad's bedroom back in Astria, she took a seat in front of the computer screen, changed the song that was playing, and then connected to the net to check her mailbox.

Humming softly the melody that was on, she typed quickly her username and password, and then clicked to log in. 

There were five mails for her to be read. It was always thrilling to open her inbox and find out who had written her the e-mails, but many times it was just the kind of rubbish publicity mails you throw to the bin without even reading them. She grunted.

Two useless ones this time she thought, at she checked in the boxes next to them to delete them, and then moved on to the other ones.

One was from her aunt, who was traveling only god knew where to this time and always sent her favorite nephew some electronic postcards or pictures. Greece this time, wasn't it? the green eyed girl smiled.

Next one was from Eriya, who, along with her elder sister, Naria, had been her neighbors in Fanelia all her life. As the two of them had gone to study abroad, they also kept in touch by mail. 

She smiled when she read that the twins would be coming by the middle of July, and then opened the last one:

"From: yukari_rulz@yahoo.com

To: k_hitomi@ryuunet.com

SUBJECT: I'm coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date: Sat, 26 Jun 20:13:37

Hiyaaa girl!!!!!!

Heeeey know what??? I told my dad if we could come to Fanelia for a few weeks or maybe a month this summer, and he said YES!!!!!!!! So I'm coming in a week or so, and don't worry I'll kick that Allen's butt for making you cry! Yes, that we'll do!! How are things going over there? Now mom is all the time bugging me, saying that if you got such good marks and have to work all summer I should be working all summer and all school time as well ù_ú so tell your mother I'm gonna eat her alive when I see her!!

'K, I'm off to get a film to watch tonight, I'll phone you tomorrow maybe, I tried this afternoon but you weren't home so I wrote this. Aw, well, c u around!

Lots of luv ^_~

Yukari"

Hitomi smiled; she had met Yukari at boarding school, and they had been friends since the very first day of school. Her friend was bubbly, outgoing and very fun to be with, and she had helped her a lot that year…

The girl with emerald eyes sighed and dropped on the small bed placed in the side of the room opposite the terrace. It was a spare bed, as that was the room that was used when she decided to invite her friends over to have a summer party, or just to have a long talk until three in the morning before going to bed. But there had also happened other many things in that room, in the terrace, in the stairs which led down to the porch…

Yeah, right, kick his butt… she repeated mentally, her eyes saddening.

Last summer had been the best summer of her entire life, and she had hoped it never to have an end. But everything does, and hers came much earlier than expected. 

Why, why did he have to split up with me? she asked herself once more, a question repeated a thousand times over the past months.

She still remembered how it had happened… 

~ She had been in her bedroom, in Astria, first day of the weekend, and she was going to enjoy it a lot. Allen had told her that he was going to visit her and they would go at the movies, and then maybe eat out at some restaurant, or just junk food, she really didn't mind what they did, as long as she got to be with him.

And then the phone rang; she heard her mother picking up the receiver from the hall:

"Hello? Oh, yes, hi, Allen. Yes, Hitomi is here. Wait a second, I'll call her. How are you all over there? Everything fine?"

She jumped to her feet, rushing to the hall to tell her mother that she would answer the call from her room, and bumped into her brother, who started making strange noises like kissing, 'uuuuhhs' and similar things. Hitomi smacked him over the head with a grin and after asking her mum to hang up the phone, she ran back to her room and hurried to the receiver with a huge smile plastered in her face. Only that, it didn't last long…

'You called yesterday to basically say 

_That you care for me but that you're just not in love_

_Immediately I pretended to be feeling similarly_

_And led you to believe I was O.K._

_To just walk away from the one thing _

_That's unyielding and sacred to me'_

She hung up the receiver in silence after a short 'Yes, don't worry about me. Take care you too. Good bye'. Suddenly the room wasn't bright anymore, and she sighed deeply, trying to calm herself. Come on, Hitomi, breathe. You can do it she told herself. Her mother's voice rang from the kitchen this time, she could tell.

"Hitomi, dear, where are you two going this evening? You know I want you back home before one" she reminded her daughter, and she gulped the lump in her throat.

"I-I don't know mum. I'll have the cell phone with me" she said out loud, her mind still whirling in shock. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible…

She immediately picked up the phone again and dialed Yukari's number. Her friend's cheerful voice greeted her and instantly agreed to go for a shopping session that afternoon. 

"But wait, weren't you supposed to go out with Allen tonight?" the red head then asked, slightly puzzled. Hitomi had been talking all week about that eve's date, and now she was canceling it? That easy?

"Uuh… he couldn't make it this evening" the green eyed girl lied. "Would it be okay to meet in half an hour in front of the Shopping Center?"

"Sure. See you later then."

I'm okay, I'm all right. I can get through this she kept telling herself at her friend's side, who was commenting something about the sales in the shops around them. 

"Hitomi, are you okay? You look terribly pale" Yukari interrupted her list to take a concerned look at the green eyed girl's features, and she smiled, waving her hand.

"Yes, of course, why shouldn't I be okay?" she said, forcing her voice to sound cheerful, but she couldn't fool the red head.

"Hey, tell me what's wrong. Is it Allen and this mysterious call off of your date with him?" she said, and Hitomi dropped her eyes to the ground and smiled sadly. 

Right as always she thought. "Is it so obvious?" she sighed, sitting on a bench next to a tall shrub in a big clay pot. Yukari laughed,

"Only to me, 'cause I know you all too well. How could it be any other way if we spend 24 hours a day, five days a week, living together?!" she said, and Hitomi grinned. "So, tell me what happened" she asked, and her green eyed friend was silent for a few seconds.

"We split up."

"You-what??! Oh Hitomi, I'm so sorry…" Yukari started, slipping her arm over her friend's shoulders. "He's the most stupid guy I know, such a big jerk! Don't worry Hitomi, he wasn't half as good as you deserve!" 

The blond girl put on a bright smile on her face, and turned to Yukari. "Yeah, you're right. I'm quite fine, don't worry about me" she added cheerfully… rather too cheerfully, she did know, but she couldn't help it, it was the best she could do at the moment… "What about going to that shop over there? Weren't you looking for a pair of jeans you told me before? There are jeans sales there" she pointed with her finger over a large boutique next to a news agency, and dragged her friend over there, trying to forget for a while Allen and what had happened. She could cope with it, she was strong enough to.

'Well I guess I'm trying to be nonchalant about it 

_and I'm going to extremes to prove I'm fine without you_

_But in reality I'm slowly losing my mind_

_Underneath the disguise of a smile gradually I'm dying inside_

_Friends ask me how I feel and I lie convincingly_

_'Cause I don't want to reveal the fact that I'm suffering_

_so I wear my disguise 'til I go home at night_

_and turn down all the lights and then I break down and cry.'_

She came back home at ten o'clock because she knew that there wouldn't be anybody in the house: her dad was working because he had a night shift that day, and her mother and Mamoru were out to a parent reunion in her little brother's school until eleven.

The lights were all off, and the closed the door and left the bunch of keys on the key drawer. She stood with her back on the door, leaning as if looking for support, and then walked to her room serenely, the house still dark. For once, Hitomi didn't feel like switching on the lights, because that way the tears that were starting to spill from her green eyes would remain in the darkness. 

Closing her room's door behind her, she threw herself on the soft mattress and hugged her pillow wildly. She turned on her cd player, and finally then, lulled by the song echoing through the empty house, she gave in to the sorrow filling her. Sobs escaped from her lips and shook her body violently, tears spilling over the creamy yellow bed sheets.

Allen had left her. And it had been so simple. She just couldn't believe that starting a relationship could be so difficult, while as ending it could take just a few words in a phone call. Why has he split up with me? Why? the questions rang in her mind, feeling horribly guilty. What, what did I do wrong?

She had know him all her life, as they lived in the same neighborhood in the outskirts of Fanelia, and Hitomi went to the same class with him, as well as with his twin brother, Susumu. And she had always liked him, she couldn't remember a time before that. Maybe it was his blond hair and blue eyes, or his warm smile, or maybe the sweetness and care he had shown for her since they were small kids. Allen had always protected her as well as her little sister. Intelligent, very good-looking and terribly popular among girls, she had treasured her love for him secretly, hoping that some day she would summon up courage to tell him how she felt.

It was then when they had to move to Astria, and Hitomi thought that all was lost. But last summer, a miracle had happened. He had asked her out.

And I thought that I was dreaming she smiled, a bittersweet feeling inside her chest. It had been the best summer of her life, her dream come true. But, of course, September came and she had to go back to boarding school. She still remembered his good bye. He had told her that distance wasn't important, that they could make it and wait for another long and wonderful summer to be together again. 

And he had called her, they had met from time to time when he could come down to Astria, and she had thought that everything was alright.

But it seems that it wasn't she choked back a sob, closing her eyes and sniffing loudly. I wasn't alright for him… I wasn't enough

'S_o what do you do when somebody you're devoted to_

_Suddenly just stops loving you and it seems that they haven't got a clue_

_Of the pain that rejection is putting you through_

_Do you cling to your pride and sing "I will survive"_

_Do you lash out and say "How dare you leave this way"_

_Do you hold on in vain as they just slip away'_

Guilt and pain hadn't faded away yet. Five months since they had split up, and she was still hurting inside, still hopelessly in love with him, and mad at herself for being so. She wiped back a tear and clicked on the 'Reply' button.

"From: k_hitomi@ryuunet.com

To: yukari_rulz@yahoo.com

SUBJECT: Re: I'm coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date: Sat, 26 Jun 23:25:43

Great news!

Long to have you here already. Things going fine over here, just wrecked from so much house cleaning. Looking forward to some butt-kicking ;·) that'd be nice. Fanel snobs coming over Monday, I'll keep you informed.

Hope you get a nice film, I'm going to bed 'cause I'm terribly tired and tomorrow I've got to finish all this and my mum's going back home. I'll phone you maybe in the evening. Till then, wonder girl, sweet dreams love.

Hitomi"

***

One day. 

She was nervous. 

One day and they were coming. 

Oh gods, I can't do this, I can't do this!!! she frantically thought, while cleaning a window which was paint-stained. 

"Hitomi, you're rubbing the wooden part, darling" Sachiko told her sweetly, and her daughter realized that, in fact, she was. 

"Sorry mum, I just had my mind somewhere else" she hastily said, concentrating again on the window glass. "When did you say they were going to come around?" she asked for the hundredth time through the weekend. Her mother smiled.

"Tomorrow at twelve o'clock, you've been asking me that same question ten times per minute! Darling, is anything wrong? You're terribly nervous. Maybe you should take a break" she suggested, and Hitomi shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry, Serena just phoned a while ago and said that they would show up in ten minutes or so to go to the beach all together" she explained, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She was going to see Allen again. Was she to slap his face, to break down and cry at his feet, or simply ignore him? Or maybe act as if nothing had happened at all between them? Just friends again?

Well, that's what he told me on the phone when we split up she mused, lost in her thoughts.

"Dear, the window…" her mother's voice made her feel that she had been cleaning again the wrong part, and corrected her position immediately.

Actually, will I look good? I mean, I'm like last year? Will I go in a plain swimming tug, a two part one…?

"Hitomi, love, come on, go and get ready. Anyway, you won't get over that window, I can see it perfectly" Sachiko told her daughter, who sweatdropped, her cleaning cloth again on the wooden surface. She beamed to her mother and ran to the huge staircase, as next to it there was the door to the porch. She was going to have to sleep in a different place, because all the bedrooms were left for the family staying in: one for the couple, and one for each one of the children. And so, she was to sleep in a room completely aisled from the house, with only one door, and that door was in the porch. She picked the old key from her back pocket, opened the lock and stepped inside. A large bed and a wardrobe, along with a big wooden desk, a chair and a chest of drawers, was the room's furniture. She didn't need more though, she smiled, opening one of the drawers and sitting in front of the small mirror on top of it. She looked good, she told herself, but do I look good enough for Allen?

Stop it right now Hitomi Kanzaki!! I'm over him, remember? she scolded herself; she was sweating because of working in the house all day, dressed in a simple grey T-shirt down to her knees. Now I'm not going to wear something special for him, you don't fancy him for heaven's sake! she brushed her golden brown hair, cut short for the summer. That was what she had told everybody here, but she had cut it short five months ago, and wanted to keep it like that to remind herself of what she had done it for… In fact, it had been Yukari's idea, telling her that girls always cut their hair when they want to start a new stage in their lives and forget an old love. So far it wasn't working too much, but she had kept trying, just in case someday did. 

"Hitomiiiiii!!!!" Serena's voice could be clearly heard even from the backside porch where she was. She looked at herself with a horrified expression on her face, I'm not even wearing my swimming tug!!! her mind was shouting, as she grabbed the first one she found in the drawer, eased herself into it, threw the T-shirt on her bed to get into the tug completely, just to run wildly to the line where her towel was drying, hanging between two big almond trees a few meters away from her room. 

"Coming!!!" she shouted, running and at the same time trying to get into a clean T-shirt, again two sizes bigger than what she actually needed. 

Hitomi ran past the porch, the lounge door and the kitchen window to the path full of stones that led to the entrance gate, flanked by the oak forest at her left, and by a huge oak tree at the right. 

There, behind the green bars, stood Serena smiling widely, wearing a blue summer dress and a pair of sunglasses hiding her big blue eyes. Behind her, Susumu, although everybody called him by his middle name, Amano. Hitomi's heart sunk a little at the sight of the features of the boy, exactly the same as his twin's… Allen. And there he was, blond hair and blue eyes with the same spark in them that she remembered. You haven't changed the very single bit, Allen she sighed, while getting to the gates and opening them skillfully. She greeted them all with a smile, as Serena trapped her in a bear hug, and both twin brothers kissed her on both cheeks.

She didn't have time to think that in the end she had dressed with the first thing she'd come across, to realize that her hair was disheveled and her breath caught. Allen. Again. After five months, him again.

They walked down the lane to the crossroad, in the middle of which a huge pine tree stood, four different roads coming together: one led to Fanelia, the other one to the bunch of houses where the Schezars lived, the one they were walking now, and the last one, the one they were to follow. It led to a lovely sand beach, and the meeting point for all young people around the place.

She smiled, not really listening to the chit chat held by Allen and Amano involving surf and water skiing that summer, feeling just wonderful at the moment. It was odd how a strange kind of happiness always flooded her every time she was with him. Serena took her hand and looked at her with concerned eyes.

"You okay?" she whispered, and Hitomi nodded with a bright smile.

"I'm over it, remember? I'm happy now, just like this" she assured her friend, as they walked on. And, anyway, with the Fanel people at home, I hope I won't have time to think about him so much! she sighed, as they made their way down the white sanded beach.

***

"Check time: half past eleven" she said out loud, walking up and down the lounge. "Mum long gone, half a hour for those people to come" she murmured. 

Sachiko had left the house that very same morning, very early, telling Hitomi to be nice and polite to the Fanels, brush up the last house corners, check the bedrooms, the kitchen, the wardrobes… and the gree eyed girl had had to "kick" her out of the house with a smile and a "Mum: I know. Now stop worrying and go, or you'll get on dad's nerves!".

And now, the limit time approaching, she felt as if she was made of jelly.

She gave another look to her outfit: a pair of shorts and a plain green sleeveless T-shirt, clinging to her curves and enhancing her natural beauty. Hair kept out of her face with a white hair band, a pair of sandals in her feet.

Then she ran to the upper floor, to check once again all the rooms, at the end of the corridor, and the studying room, the door immediately at the left of the staircase, where the passage started.

All okay she told herself, trying to calm down. Hmm… what about a cold shower, Hitomi? she playfully thought, going downstairs slowly and heading for the bathroom in the garage. They always went into the house through the garage, as the main door was not half as comfortable for daily use, and there was a bathroom in the side of the room opposite the door.

She decided to use it because she wanted to keep clean all the others to show the Fanels when they arrived, and that small one was theoretically going to be used only by her. So she took a big clean towel and went into the room, softly humming to herself…

***

"Why, isn't this breathtakingly beautiful!" Jaira said, getting out of the taxi and opening her purse to pay the driver; other four people did as well, and stood still in front of the dark green gates, staring at the house where they were to live for the whole summer. "The Sparrow" was written on a nice stone plaque next to the gates.

The three young people took a long look at the place: one of the boys was a tall and pale-skinned man, aqua-blue hair and plum colored eyes with an intelligent look in them, wearing a green T-shirt and a pair of jeans; the other boy had ebony black hair falling over his face in unruly strands, his skin tanned to a beautiful golden shade, and deep eyes, which were a hazel brown with ruby fire flickers in them. The two brothers didn't say a word, admiring the astonishing landscape, and at their side a slim girl with big dark blue eyes looked around for a few seconds and then snorted.

"Great place. Where did you say the beach was, mom?" she asked, turning over to Jaira, whose reddish hair both women shared.

"We'll go there later on, sweet. Now let's go into the house" she declared, urging each one of them to pick their own luggage.

And then, she noticed someone pulling her sleeve softly. It was Van.

"Jaira, I… I need to go to the loo… very urgently" he murmured, and she smiled, pushing the entrance gate open.

"Go ahead, you run to find one while we have a look around here"

He nodded and ran to the house, storming in at the first door he found open: it led to a rather dark garage, with four windows on the left; he noticed that some system of the house, maybe the water one, was making a lot of noise, muffling any other ones around. And then, a door, and next to it a pile of clean towels.

So that must be it he told himself, hurrying over towards the half closed room.

***

She just stepped out of the shower, taking the towel to wrap her body with it, when the door was shot open. Hitomi's eyes stared into ruby hazel ones, and for a moment, they were both frozen, rooted to the floor. Only when a deep blush crept up the boy's face, she finally covered herself completely with the piece of warm cloth, at the same time that she picked up one of her sandals to throw it at the intruder.

"AAAHHHHH!!!!! A PERVERT IN THE BATHROOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  she screamed at the top of her lungs, closing her eyes and shooting her shoe to the dark haired youth in front of her, who managed to close the door just in time to avoid the flying sandal. 

Uh oh… bad… veeery bad start… he told himself with a shrug, his cheeks still burning red.

Tbc~

**_Dariel_**_: *blushes crimson red* HIYAA!!!!! __Hehe, I did think of you when I started writing this about the summer job ^_~, in fact you had a lot to do in that!! sigh yeah, why does she get such wonderful jobs [working in a restaurant attended by Van is also too good to be true, *sniffs*] and I only get awful ones!!! Tis not fair… I would sign up to be the heroine of an anime with Van as a partner!!!!! Ah uhoh *recoils a little and laughs uneasily* err you saw the Hitomi-Allen thing? But yes, don't worry, Van will win her heart over… *sweatdrops* okay, you'll have to give him some time, as you read he didn't have what I call a great start, but well… anyway, thanks again for reviewing!!!!! *hugs Dee almost to death* and you, _you_!!! Hurry up, hurry up with yours, you have me waiting!!!!!!!!! Ah, guess what. ff.net made two of my reviews disappear as well… so club, club plz, I sign up for it!! ¬¬_

**_SabineballZ_**_: ^____^ ahhh glad that you like it!!!!! Ahem, I wonder you don't quite like Allen here, but as I said in the beginning, I swear it'll change… And I read, you are at Ferrara????? You LUCKY ONE!!!! *wails* I want that too!!!!!! I was to Italy this year with my class and it was absolutely beautiful, wasn't at Ferrara though, where's that exactly? Yeah, heat is horrible here too *snorts* anyway, have a great time over there and noo your ideas aren't awful at all ^__^ tanks a lot 4 reviewing!!!!!!! *grins widely*_

**_little fairy_**_: *grinning* yes, YES!!! Lucky her, soo lucky! I hope that you like this one as well, I tried my best ^^ and thank you so much for your nice review!!!___

**_hitomi21_**_: here it goes some more ^__^ thanks for telling me to go on and reviewing!!! *bows to the floor* _

**_van lover_**_: [sigh I completely identify with your name ^__^!!!!!!!] I did!! *grins blushing* And… oh gods, I feel so stupid to ask *sweatdrops*… what is BFF Pauline? *looks at her toes, blushing* ya know, I'm not English and I sometimes get lost with things whose meaning I don't quite know… ahh I feel so dumb! Anyway, could you plz tell me if you don't mind??_

**_Fae Rain_**_: *grins widely* glad that you like it!!! ^_____^ thank you tons!!! And yes *sweatdrops* this was the idea, ahem, if it turns out to be good I think I'll wash the dishes more often just in case I get some more inspiration ^_~ loved to read your lovely review, thanks a million!!!_

**_Cyber11_**_: thank you soo much!!! ^__^ and yes, I plan to write pure evil here hehe ^_~_

**_Toni: _**_^__^ thanx for the review, I hope that you still like it *smiles widely*_

**_Cev_**_: thanks a lot for reviewing ^____^ hehe I hope I answered your questions here, I wouldn't dream of leaving Folken out of this *blushes* he's too good for that!! He's going to be into all this, but as he's older and already in college [Genetic Engineering! Ahh such a good catch! ^_~], the fic will be mainly centered on Van and Hitomi. Anyway, living in the same house, he's going to be around all the time ^__^_

**_Rhapsody's Song_**_: thanks a lot!! *blushes*_

**_Aya_chan():_**_ *grins from ear to ear* thank you a million!! ^____^ Yes yes, don't worry they will ^_~ they already started hehe, and I promise things will get better from now on… I also think it is funny [hah! I thought too that I was the only one ^^U we're not alone anymore!]!! So thank you so, so much for your review and reading this ^__^!!!!___

_A/N: Ahem… I'm not really completely satisfied with this chapter… things are somewhat rushed, I would've liked to include maybe the Fanels' plane trip, but in the end I didn't, although I may add it later on if I feel like it [I could write pages and pages and never get to the conclusion, and I wanted the two main charas to meet at the end of this so…] … and I know Hitomi's meeting with Allen was short, I could've written a lot on that and on how she felt towards him, but I thought, "hey! This is Hitomi and Van's fic", so I didn't explain it that much.. after all, I'll have to write a whole lot about it in following chapters if I want to make it easily believable sigh… anyway, how was it? I hope not that bad *sweatdrops* I'd be sooo grateful if you told me with a nice review ^_^ I truly need them when I'm not inspired!! So PLEEZ DO REVIEW!!!! ^__^ ( flying vegetables also appreciated)._

_Till next time [as soon as I can, I promise]_

_Ryuu ^^_

_PS: aaagh I nearly forgot!!! The song's credit is not mine!!! [pheew, don't sue me for that plz ^^U] It's Mariah Carey's "Breakdown", I just thought that the lyrics fitted perfectly so there they are…_


	3. Why can't we be friends?

_Disclaimer: If I told you I did own Escaflowne and that Van is also mine… would you seriously believe me? ^^U_

A/N: Okay, here we go again!! Thank you again SO MUCH!! to those who reviewed [see end chappie ppl! ^^] and many, many MANY thank yous to Dariel *crushes her in a bear hug* for beta-reading the chapter and helping me when I was stuck!!!!!! What would I do without you??!!! ^_________^ 

Btw, don't worry… FLUFF will be coming soon… but not yet :p you'll have to bear with me for a few more chapters before reading some fluffy parts ^.~ though I promise there'll be lots of it! *sighs, blushing*

**Natsu no E ~ Picture of Summer**

**~Chapter 2. Why can't we be friends?~**

She slipped into her shorts as fast as she could, locking the door immediately so as to make sure that the boy couldn't come in again. The towel wrapped around her wet hair was starting to soak her T-shirt, and she gave her honey blond tresses a final rub before storming out of the bathroom, barefooted, and holding a sandal in each hand.

"Where are you…?" she mumbled, peeking out of the room and trying to spot the hiding place of the intruder around the garage. But he wasn't there. "… escaped?" she asked herself, a few damp strands falling over her eyes; she shook her head to get them out of her sight, and then decided that sandals were definitely not the best weapon she could use…

So there you had Hitomi, slipping into her summer flip flops and grabbing a long stick that had once been a broom, until Serena's dog, Scherezade, decided that it would make a wonderful toy for biting. Since then, you couldn't sweep a single leaf with what was left, but it was okay for hitting some trespasser on the head, she thought.

Ahhh!! And what if he is dangerous?? Some kind of criminal, or a psycho who wants to rape me and then kill me or something?? she started thinking, her imagination going wild, as she clutched her stick with all her might, her knuckles turning white.

She went into the kitchen and then into the living room, pale as a ghost, until she found him in the small dining room, his face cast down and his red cheeks hidden from her keen big emerald eyes.

"HAH!!!" she yelled at him, pointing at his head with the stick. Sun poured into the room, and she had to blink several times for her eyes to get adjusted to the bright light. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN MY HOUSE???!!!!" she accused him, sending threatening glares and shaking the stick to try to impress him. "And stepping in my bathroom nevertheless!!!!! YOU GODDAMN PERVERT!!!" she went on, and recoiled a little when the raven haired boy gave a step in her direction. She started panicking, and gulped loudly, her voice trembling a little. "S-Stay there!!! Don't move! I know how to use this stick and I will if you dare to come a single inch closer to me!!" she warned him, although the slightly terrified look in her green orbs gave her away.

But even so, he did as told and stood frozen in place… and then, he looked at her;

Those are not the eyes of a psycho-killer she thought in awe, not even noticing the deep blush that stained the youth's cheeks. He attempted a feeble smile.

"I-I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean-" he started, taking several steps towards Hitomi, eyeing the stick in her hands as he tried to get her to drop it and listen to him, if not to trust him.

But when she saw him coming closer, she freaked out. She was alone in a big house, half lost in the woods, if she screamed no one would hear her, and she was with a boy who had stepped right into her bathroom and seen her half naked… what would you have done in her case? 

Well, Hitomi decided that the best thing was to defend herself above all; hence, the stick flew to the black haired boy's head with a "Kyaaa!!" while she screamed something like "DON'TCHA DARE COME CLOSE TO MEEE!!!!!!!!" and closed her eyes, not sure if she wanted to see what harm her blow had inflicted.

But the room was silent after her strike, and she suddenly wondered if she had killed the intruder, panic creeping inside her.

The emerald eyed girl gasped when she saw that, in fact, the intruder was safe and sound, and quite alive, as he had stopped the stick's advance with both hands. The expression on his face was calm and collected as his fingers finally grasped the broom stick and, making it slip out of her small hands, he placed it out of her reach. And then, just then, a deep frown made its appearance.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he shouted, and she recoiled, her hand blindly searching for something that she could throw at him now that she was defenseless and unarmed. Her long fingers stumbled over a nice glass ashtray, and she wielded it as if her life depended on it. Well, bear in mind that she truly _did_ think it in those moments. 

"Get out of my house!!!" she screamed, trying to scare him off, but he was in front of her in a single swift motion, and took her by the wrist. She felt her breath caught when she felt his strong  grip, his closeness, and realized that he was incredibly good-looking. His eyes delved into hers, sparks of red overtaking the hazel mist in them, as he took the ashtray with his free hand and shook her gently.

"Would you please listen to me??" he yelled angrily. "This is going to be MY house too for the summer!!" he explained. And suddenly, she understood; her eyes opened in dismay, noticing for the first time that there were other three people standing in the kitchen door, gaping at them as if they couldn't believe what was before their eyes. A tall man with dark eyes and dark hair, a woman with deep cerulean eyes and chestnut colored hair, and a young man with aqua-blue hair and intelligent eyes, all three looking at them in surprise and disbelief.

And the realization sunk in: she was actually fighting one of the Fanels.

Hitomi felt her cheeks turn even redder than they were, and for a moment she just wanted to run away and hide her embarrassment from their curious eyes. AHHHHH!!! she closed her eyes as the auburn eyed boy released her and stepped back finally convinced that she wouldn't try to hit him again.

A small groan escaped her lips, as she covered her bright red face with her hands. Is there any hole around to hide? she frantically thought. I urgently need one, I want to be swallowed this very moment!!

"Wow, Van, I had heard that you were a heart wrench in High School, but had never imagined that you got girls to fall for you this soon" Folken Fanel said jokingly, and it was his time to blush deep crimson. 

"Ah-eh-uh…I-it-it's not like that!!" he managed to stutter, as Hitomi bowed to him, trying to apologize, and glad that her hair covered her face. She wouldn't be able to look at that boy into the eyes for the rest of her life!!

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't know that you had already arrived. I thought you were coming at twelve," she murmured, and Jaira smiled, crossing the kitchen and walking next to where she was. The brunette woman placed a hand on her bare shoulders with an understanding grin.

"So you must be Kanzaki Hitomi, right?" she kindly asked. "I'm sorry if we startled you. I'm Jaira Fanel, and that is my husband Goau over there" she said, pointing a finger at the handsome dark haired man, and the sandy blond girl finally looked up to see who was she being introduced to. The woman then signaled at the boy with dark mauve eyes, and smiled. "That is Folken, and this" she said, placing both hands on the raven haired boy's shoulders, "is Van."

Both teenagers avoided each other's eyes and mumbled a hurried 'hi'. 

"Mom!!! There's no swimming pool!" an unknown voice echoed in the garage, and suddenly a lively little girl came into the room with a small scowl on her delicate and slightly feline features. She had the brunette woman's same deep sapphire eyes, and same silky brown hair, and was dressed in a spaghetti strip blue tank top, a pair of jeans and sandals. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and Hitomi immediately guessed that it was the kid who she got to 'baby-sit'. And she didn't like it.

Oh great, can't be better… she sarcastically thought, rolling her eyes, I nearly hurt the boy with an ashtray, put myself in ridicule in front of the whole family, and now I get to take care after a spoiled and posh little girl who has a big problem because there's no private pool here she snorted softly. Not to say, that in top of all that the other guy thinks I was trying to chat up with his brother she blushed again at the mere thought of it.

But, after all, she was the one in charge of the house for the summer. And if any explanations were to be given, it had to be her the one to give them.

"There is no pool because it would have meant cutting down some of the trees to get room to build it there. These woods need hundreds of years to grow, and are very old, so we decided that we didn't need a pool as the sea is less than ten minutes away from here" she explained, her chin tilted up when she looked at the girl, who first frowned and then sighed, nodding. Jaira smiled brightly.

"I think that was a lovely decision, dear. I already noticed that the trees were very ancient, it would have been a pity to cut them down" she declared. "But ah, I forgot to introduce you. This is my daughter Merle. Merle, say 'hello' to Hitomi. She'll be taking care of you this summer." 

The young girl walked up to where the honey blonde was, and mumbled some words of greeting, her brows knitted in a huge frown.

"Mom, I don't want anyone to baby-sit me!! I'm thirteen, damnit, it's old enough!" she mewled, frustration pouring in her voice. But Jaira shook her head firmly.

"No, Merle. We've already been through this. I don't want to hear another word about this in the whole summer. Understood?"

The blue eyed girl nodded, suppressing a growl in her throat, and her mother turned to Hitomi again.

"Oh, sorry dear. Merle's a little bit… touchy, but I don't think she'll give you any problem."

"Oh er… sure" she murmured, although watching the brunette's daughter, she was positive that it would be exactly the opposite. In fact, in one single day, she was starting to realize what a hard summer she had gotten herself into. "Okay so… shall I show you around?" she offered, trying to concentrate and get into the role she was supposed to play for two months. 

"That would be perfect, thank you dear" Jaira said with a smile.

***

"Hello?" 

Hitomi gulped, as Allen's voice answered the phone. She fidgeted and started tapping her fingers nervously on the small table. "Hi, Allen?… this is Hitomi"  

"Hitomi! Lovely to hear you, how're things at your place? Snobs already there, right?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Er, yeah, they're here. Look, can I come to see Serena? I just can't talk freely now" she dropped her voice to a whisper, "I… I'm not alone here, ya know…"

"Sure" he smiled, sitting on the couch. "Come over to dinner if you feel like it. Mum's just preparing it now, do you want me to tell her that you're staying?" he suggested, and she gulped, trying to stop her hand's shaking. Allen inviting her to dinner. She had done that a thousand times last summer, when they were still together, and he always walked her up home again, and gave her a goodbye kiss in front of the gates, not a single light around, just the two of them in the darkness. She blushed at the memory. 

"…hello? Hitomi? You still there?" Allen's worried voice woke her up again.

"Uh oh er yeah, I'm here, sorry" she stammered. "I'd love to stay but… er, I think I should really have dinner here tonight… you know, first evening together and all that…" she fought with the words. She then heard a squeal on the other side of the line.

"Allen! Who're you talking to?" a feminine voice that the honey blond girl knew quite well asked.

"Oh, just wait a sec, Milly. It's Hitomi" he replied, and she could swear that he was smiling. …Milly??

Allen was back on the phone an instant later.

"Ah, sorry. So you're not staying for dinner?" he repeated, but the green eyed girl was thinking about something else.

"That was Millerna? Millerna Aston?" she asked bluntly and her ex boyfriend chuckled.

"Yup, that was her. She just came to invite us to a summer party she's organizing next month, it sounds totally terrific" he grinned, and Hitomi felt a pang of jealousy in her stomach.

Millerna was Fanelia's mayor's youngest daughter, and she was… well, everything all girls in the village wanted to be. The green eyed girl remembered her as an astonishingly beautiful girl, with pale blond long hair, huge sweet violet eyes, and thin long legs that made boys go crazy. Rich and wealthy, although they lived inside Fanelia, her dad, Grava Aston, owned a huge mansion in front of the teens' favorite beach. 

The place was properly and officially called Yurizen's Beach, but everybody knew it by 'Yuri', or 'the yuri', for short.

But, what was Millerna Aston doingin Allen's house? Hitomi didn't believe that it was only because of the party thing, oh no… she made a mental note to ask Serena about the blonde's behavior towards her elder brother. 

"Oh" she managed to murmur. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and quickly turned to stare into Van's deep dark crimson eyes. He blushed immediately, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.

He's thinking of the bathroom scene she told herself, and the simple thought was enough to make her turn crimson as well. She wondered how much of her he had been able to glimpse, but she would die right there and then before asking such an embarrassing question.

"What?" she barked harshly, unconsciously aiming at him the frustration and rage that filled her then, not only because of what had happened between them before, but because of what she suspected that *could* happen between Allen and Millerna if given the chance.

His eyes hardened at her sharp tone, and the flush slowly faded from his sun tanned cheeks.

"Could you tell me when you're finished with the phone?" he asked unemotionally, and she nodded.

"Hitomi? Everything alright?" Allen 's voice on the phone broke the silence that had fallen between Van and the girl. She eagerly went back to the receiver.

"Yup, no prob. I'll be there in five minutes. "

"K, see you then."

"See you" and she hung up the phone. Shooting a cold glare at the raven haired boy, she stormed out of the room to bump into Goau.

"Whoa, whoa! Are you in a hurry, miss?" he asked with a smile, and Hitomi smiled back.

"I'm just going to a friend's house for a moment, do you mind? I'll be right back in half an hour and I'll cook dinner then, is it okay?" she suggested, praying all gods the answer to be 'yes'. Goau shrugged his shoulders with a lopsided grin.

"Okay with me, miss. But you don't need to worry over dinner, Jaira will cook, or even Folken can do it. You should taste his crêpes, they taste heavenly" he winked an eye to Hitomi, and she grinned. "You'll just have to tell them where all the ingredients are, frying pans and casseroles, and it'll be okay with them."

Geez, snobs that cook! she thought for herself with a surprised smile, as she ran half jumping towards the big green gates. It was already eight o'clock, and the sun was still quite high in the sky, a crescent silver moon hanging lazily in the east. She could never get to see such a clear sky in Astria, and not even in Boarding School, where there were no high buildings around to hide the blue.

A gentle breeze was blowing, and she was grateful that they were near the sea, where soft winds always blew on the coast, making the high temperatures almost bearable, something otherwise impossible in other parts in the interior.

She ran down the lane and took the only turning on the right there was before the roundabout, hurrying to the Schezars' house. 

She spotted a group of boys in the street, and though they were far enough to avoid having to say 'hello' to them, she could perfectly recognize Serena's neighbor, who lived in the same street, although in the opposite side of the road. He was uncharacteristically pale, and he had been Hitomi's biggest fear when she was a kid at Fanelia's School, as he was the popular guy who sometimes took pleasure in bullying shyer and smaller children than him. 

Oh, yes, Dilandau Albatou, with those dark red eyes and silver hair, had a reputation to maintain, and he certainly did.

"Hitomi!"

Serena had come out of her house to greet her, and was calmly sitting on the low stone wall that delimited her house's boundaries, leisurely swaying her longs limbs over the fence. With a bright smile, she jumped to the floor, twisted her ankle, let out some actually not quite refined words, and finally walked to where the honey blond girl was, laughing at what had happened to her.

"I don't think it's funny!" the ash blonde groaned, as Hitomi hugged her, still snickering.

"Ah, Sery, you should've seen your face! It was *very* funny indeed."

"Hey, S, great fall there!!! Could you repeat it again??" a boy's voice boomed from the end of the street, making her turn crimson and start fuming.****

"Fuck off, Albatou" she snarled as Dilandau and some of his friends, Miguel and Dallet, headed for the spot where the two girls were standing, still laughing at Serena.

"Ohhh, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be saying those rude words, don't you think, guys?" he smirked, elbowing Dallet, who happened to be the one who was closer to him.

"Just ignore them" Hitomi told her with an indifferent look in her eyes and turning her back on the three boys. "Let's go into the house."

Serena shot Dilandau a deathly glare as she saw him mimicking what she had done, earning more laughs from his friends, and followed the green eyed girl into the house, crossing the garden and finally closing the door behind her.

"That son of…" she started, but Hitomi placed her hand on Serena's lips to silence her with a sweet smile.

"Forget them now. I've gotta tell you loads of things…" she grinned in complicity.

After saying 'hello' to Encia, the siblings' mum, both girls ran upstairs, Serena still slightly limping from her fall, until her friend stopped dead on her tracks in the middle of the staircase. The Schezar girl eyed her curiously, not quite getting what was going on.

"What-?"

"Hey, is Millerna still here?" Hitomi shushed her in a whisper, and the ash blonde sighed, understanding what was in her friend's head at that very same moment.

"Yeah, in Allen and Amano's room" she murmured back. "She's staying for dinner. I think she's after Allen" she said seriously, narrowing her big sky blue eyes.

Just then she heard girlish giggles from upstairs, and she felt the urge of making the pretty girl swallow her stupid sniggers. Serena smiled at her.

"Oh, yes Hitomi, I see that you are absolutely not the very bit interested in my brother" she mockingly said. "So, that murderous look I see in your eyes does not mean that you want to strangle Millerna this very instant" she concluded, and the girl next to her sighed deeply, rolling her eyes in defeat.

"Well, _okay_…I might be a _little_ bit interested in Allen, but it's not something strange after all, he's been my boyfriend!" she reluctantly said, defending herself, and Serena laughed.

"Yeah sure right okay…" she quickly said, laughter still in her eyes, and Hitomi shot her a pissed look. "Okay, okay!" the ash blond girl retreated, chuckling. "So, what's all this you wanted to tell me about?" she said, pulling her friend upstairs to her room.

Serena's place was quite big, and decorated in blue colors; the wooden floor was covered with carpets with ethnic designs during winter, and there were several paintings on the walls, some painted by herself, as well as some posters, mainly basketball, as the blue eyed girl was a big basketball fan. A huge bed full of cushions and pillows was next to a big window with white see-through curtains, butterfly patterns sewn on them. And, as always, Hitomi could see that her friend was still as untidy as ever, as the desk, part of the bed and both chairs in the room were covered with clothes.

"Mm, Serena, are you sure that all this can actually _fit_ in your wardrobe?" she joked, and her friend poked her in the ribs, waving her hand to tell her that her room's condition was not the matter of business right now.

"_Are_ you going to tell me about the snobs or _not_?" the ash blond girl asked in a sigh, dropping onto her bed and opening her window a little bit more, as if trying to tempt the breeze into the house. 

Hitomi took a seat next to her, trying not to crush any of her friend's skirts and blouses, and started to tell her about her 'triumphal' meeting with them.

"What??!! I can't believe it!! You tried to shoot a sandal at him???" Serena was laughing so hard that she nearly fell off the bed, as Hitomi tried to shut her up and stop blushing all at once.

"Yeah, okay, it wasn't as if I was expecting a terribly gorgeous and good-looking guy to step right into my bathroom while I was naked!!" she tried to explain, just when the door opened and a blond head peeked in.

"What have I heard? A hot guy tried to spy on you in the bathroom?" asked Allen, fairly amused. He stepped into the room, followed by Amano, both wearing a wide grin on their faces.****

"Hey, and you hadn't told me he was good looking!!" squeaked Serena with a laugh, punching the honey blonde's arm, and she blushed again.

"Allen? Amano? Are you in here?" asked Millerna's voice, and right afterwards she went into Serena's room as well. When she saw Hitomi, she smiled. "Hey!! Hitomi, I didn't know you were here, when did you arrive?"

The green eyed girl tried to ignore the fact that the pale blonde was clinging to Allen quite obviously, and put on a smile as well. "Last Friday afternoon. I'm staying all summer though" she explained, and Millerna gasped.

"Ahh!! So you're the lucky one who gets to live with the Fanel people, aren't you?" she said excitedly, and Hitomi arched her eyebrows. …lucky?. The girl with violet eyes went on chatting animatedly.

"They stopped this morning to visit my father, you know, he likes to know everybody who's staying around, and I got to see the brothers… they're hot!!" she squealed with a spark in her eyes.

"Soo, you're a lucky one, 'Tomi!" Allen said with a mischievous smile, winking an eye to her, and she sighed, trying her best not to let the sadness show in her eyes.

… he doesn't feel jealous about me living with them. He doesn't care if I have something with one of the boys… in fact, I doubt he cares at all about my love life she told herself, her heart sinking a little. If only she could make him become interested in her again…

"Yeah, and with her looks she will surely win their hearts over… oh my, I would give anything to be in your place" said Millerna, and Amano ruffled Hitomi's sandy blond strands of hair.

"Hey, Weedy, I hadn't seen your new hair-do!" he said, using her childhood nickname for the green eyed girl. She smiled at the mention of the name, remembering the time when she had gotten herself tangled in some seaweeds while diving, and Amano had had to get her out of there, all covered in green weeds, of course. "It really suits you" he complimented her. "And as I see that you'll soon be caught, won't you have any friends as pretty as you around here?" he said humorously.

"Oh, Amano, I'm so sorry… I didn't want to break your heart, you know I love you" faked Hitomi with a serious expression. "But yes, I'll get you a girlfriend, don't you worry" she said with a laugh. 

"You dummie! Who would want to pair up with you?" joked Serena.

There was another knock on the door, and Encia came into the room with a tray full of chocolate biscuits and a few cokes. 

"I thought you might want something to eat before supper's ready" she said with a smile.

"Mom!! Don't tempt me! You know I can only have carrots as a noon meal!" moaned Serena, and when Hitomi shot a questioning glaze over to the twins, they both adopted the same expression of 'you-know-she's-still-on-her-diet-thing'. She snickered softly, and got up with a grin.

"Well I guess I should be going now. I promised I'd be there for dinner, and I don't want them to wait for me…" she explained.

"Yeah, two guys are waiting for her" winked Serena, tapping her shoulder, and Hitomi rolled her eyes. Oh suuuuure… as if I'm going to fall for them. One is as quiet as a tomb, and the other one is a pervert who sneaks into bathrooms and has a bad temper… how could I even put it to doubt? Suuuure I'll be falling for them, this same night she sarcastically thought. Though one must admit that they _are_ good-looking… 

***

Van went into the room without any noise betraying him, observing his elder brother ease his laptop on one of the big wooden tables, and then place tons of cables next to it. He saw that there actually was another computer there, with a printer and a scanner, but he also knew that his brother had always liked working with his own things.

"Hey Folken" he said, and although any other person in the same case would've jolted or flinched, the aqua-blue haired man did nothing but smile.

"Hey Van. Have you already unpacked everything?" he asked casually, switching cables and looking for a socket where to plug in the laptop. 

The reddish brown eyed boy wandered around the room, going to the balcony and peeking out to admire the dark woods before him, and then to the terrace. "Yup. Everything done."

He gazed in awe at the landscape that could be seen from the terrace. "This is really beautiful…" he commented, and Folken nodded, while grinning, pleased to have all his things ready to be used.

"Yeah, it truly is. Doesn't it remind you of mum's village?" the elder brother asked, and Van sighed, saying nothing. "And what about the girl?" he asked with a mischievous grin. His little brother immediately started stammering and blushing.

"W-wha-what ab-about what?"

Folken started laughing. "Geez, lil' bro, you finally have started doing what Jaira wants you to?" he teased. "At least I must say she's very pretty. You have good taste, kid" he smiled, and Van punched him.

"Folken! She's not my girlfriend, and don't call me 'kid'! I'm not eight years old anymore" he grinned, then turning to a confident smirk. "But, by the way, it is true that I have good taste." 

"Vaaan!!!!!!!!!" Merle stormed into the room and threw herself into the raven haired boy's arms, burying her face in his chest. "Van, Van, can't you tell mom that I don't need that girl to take care of me? I'm sick with it all!!" she pleaded in a mewl. He shrugged with an easy smile, as Folken tousled their stepsister's brown hair.

"Merle, you know that Jaira is just worried over you" the elder brother tried to reason with her. "You sure did your best at demonstrating her what you could do when left on your own" he said, chuckling, and she snorted.

 "But Folken it was nothing! I don't deserve this military vigilance all the time just because of a little mess I did once" she protested, and Van laughed.

"Do you actually call getting a fire in the kitchen and nearly getting yourself killed with the smoke 'a little mess'??!" he asked, and the girl waved her hand.

"Nah, nothing I couldn't handle. Anyway, that was _a year_ ago!" she said, as if that year had been a lifetime to her. "I'm old enough now."

Folken sighed. "Anyway, Merle, I don't see that… er, what was her name?" he trailed off, giving them a questioning glance.

"Hitomi" purred Merle, scowling when she said the name.

"Ah, yes, well …that Hitomi's to be that bad… she sure will be nice to you" he said, trying to calm the girl, and Van let out a chuckle.

"Oh yes, very nice indeed… trying to hit me with a stick and then with an ashtray. Such a pacific little angel…" he murmured ironically.

"She did WHAT?!" his stepsister shrieked. "Ohhh I'm gonna tear her to pieces when she comes! How dare she??!!" she yelled, and Folken sniggered.

"Oh, she dared because Van saw her naked, didn't you Van?" he put in, and his brother turned crimson, while Merle stopped yelling and looked up at the raven haired boy in disbelief, her jaw dropped without her noticing. He blushed again even deeper.

"I-she-I mean, NO!!" he tripped over the words, trying to make that point clear. "I saw NOTHING! I swear! She was covering herself with the towel, so I just got to see her face and maybe her shoulders but…"

"Aww come on Van, didn't you see anything that was… a little bit _lower_ than that?" asked Folken with a smirk, elbowing him gently, and having a great time in teasing his younger brother. But, after all, he was so easy to tease!

"NO!!" he shouted, so red that one couldn't really distinguish between his T-shirt and him.

"Oi, Van… you're really innocent, you know that?" his elder brother said with an amused grin. "So, have you said anything to her ever since? She does look like a nice girl to me" he opined.

"Merle! Boys! Dinner's ready!!" Jaira's voice echoed in the stair hall.

"Hey, weren't you going to cook crêpes?" Van asked his brother, relieved and highly grateful for the change of topic.

"Noo, I'll let you cook them next time. You could impress the girl with your lemon ice cream, cream and chocolate ones" said Folken with a wink.

"Would you stop it!!? I'm not interested in that girl, when are you going to get that??" shouted Van. And then he froze in his place when he saw that Hitomi was just standing there, in the corridor in front of the study room's door. Her eyebrows were arched and her lips slightly parted.

"Oh, how nice to know" she said coldly. "I may also inform you that I'm not interested in you either, Van Fanel, so, rejoice" she snorted sharply afterwards, and then walked calmly to where her computer was and grabbed a pair of sunglasses that had been left next to the screen.

When she left the room through the terrace and went down the stairs, Van buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"Great. Just great" he moaned, and Folken tapped his shoulder sympathetically.

"I must say you did quite screw things up back there" he said, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about, it was your fault!!!" the raven haired man yelled, and his brother laughed, easily avoiding Van's punch.

"Nah, anyway who cares?" Merle put in indifferently. "Let's go have dinner, I'm hungry" she smiled, and scampered down the stairs, trying to sit on the railing to slid down. Unfortunately, she hadn't practiced that move much, lost balance and fell onto the steps with a groan. She eyed the railing with a set look.

Mwa… practice makes perfect she decided with a feline grin.

***

Hitomi woke up at seven next morning; she eased into her running shorts, put on a white string tank top and a pair of runners, and after placing a hair band to keep her hair out of her face, she quietly sneaked out of her room.

The sun had just risen not long ago, and there was still a gentle breeze in the woods. It was, she thought, the perfect time to go jogging.

For a second she considered going into the house and get something to eat before going out, but she decided it would be too complicated, having to unlock the door and lock it again after leaving. So she ignored her stomach's grumbles and trotted nonchalantly to the gates, deciding that it was better to run before having breakfast. That way she would avoid later sickness and vomits, something she knew quite well from boarding school, as every time she had p.e. at 8 in the morning she ended up with her stomach hurting and her breakfast giving some unnatural leaps and jolts inside her.

Okay, what's up for today… she thought, closing the gates and, after a little hesitation, heading for the left, up to the mountains. The route she had chosen was tough, but it was all surrounded by high trees and not a single person could be found around, as they preferred the houses that were closer to the sea and the beaches.

Maybe that's why she preferred this route, because she was all alone with her thoughts, and completely in peace with herself and what surrounded her.

But the previous day had given her lots of food for thought, and it was starting to give her a headache.

"Let's see. I guess they can cook themselves their breakfast if they want some bacon or eggs or whatever they get in Irini" she reasoned out loud, scaring some birds perched on low branches and making them fly away. "I'll have to get water, get lunch ready, and show them around I guess… maybe they want to go to Fanelia and see what's there…" she growled. "Okay, so guide job today. Oh my god… and don't tell me they can't make their beds themselves…" she groaned, suddenly realizing that living with such rich and posh people maybe they really _didn't know_ how to make such trivial things as those.

And when she remembered that Millerna was flirting around Allen, that she had promised Serena to keep her company with her diet every time she went there for a meal, and that her ex boyfriend didn't seem to be the very bit interested in her, it honestly didn't help her to feel better.

If I could only drop by at Serena's this afternoon… maybe we could meet tonight at the beach she thought with a smile, this time not able to say it out loud, too concentrated on keeping her pace to break it by simply speaking unnecessarily. I just hope I don't get to baby-sit the girl tonight… by the way, I wonder if they plan to go out without her and leave her with me… she mused. 

By eight she was back home, sweating and panting though satisfied. One of the good things, apart from Yukari, that she had found in boarding school, was the track. She was one of the star members of the track team, and she dearly thanked Amano for urging her to take the sport. He had seen that she was good at running, and it was, thanks to his advice, that Hitomi was now that good.****

The house was still silent, and she was glad for it. After all, she had expected them to be heavy sleepers until late in the morning, while she usually got up very soon to go jogging, when it wasn't hot yet and running could be enjoyable.

She slipped into her new routine effortlessly: she took a quick cold shower, got dressed in a cream-colored tank top and a navy blue miniskirt, and then made her way to the western wall of the house, where the rain water cistern was, with a jug to fill it up….

And she bumped into the auburn eyed boy from the previous day. 

You may think that they both blushed. 

They did.

"… good morning" mumbled Hitomi, brushing aside a loose strand of golden wheat-colored hair that hung in front of her eyes.

"… same to you."

And there they stood, face to face, not uttering another word, until Hitomi murmured an excuse and walked past him to the cistern, taking the key that would open it from under a stone bench next to the water reservoir.

"What are you doing?" Van asked. His hair was wet, and the girl thought that he must have had a shower after waking up. He was wearing a pair of dark denim trousers, and a black T-shirt. 

I've always loved guys in black T-shirts a part of the girl's mind sighed, and the other part ignored the thought. He sure did look good, with his coal black locks gently framing his face, where his eyes shone like hazel rubies.

She opened the cistern with her back turned on him, and realized that he was making her nervous.

"Getting water**.**"

Van bit his lip, not knowing how to fix things between them. He knew that things hadn't been exactly going the best way possible up to now, and he truly wanted to sign peace and start over again with her. 

"Do… do you want me to help you?" he asked shyly, and she snickered.

"Oh, no, no please… you would hurt your delicate hands heaving a bucket full of water" she shot cynically, letting the metal bucket splash into the dark water and fill up with the fresh liquid. He admired her swift and strong movements while shepulled the bucket rope through the pulley, and hurried to help her when she had some problems with the huge water filled container, though Hitomi tried to get him out.

"Stop it, Fanel, I said don't-!" 

But it was too late… he accidentally made the bucket triple and poured part of its contents onto the girl he had been trying to help.

"I-I'm so sorry" he quickly apologized. … maybe Folken was right and I should try with my crêpes…

She shot him an irate gaze. "So, you want to play with water? Leave these things to me, you snobs have no idea of what to do with your hands, so get into the house and I'll serve 'Your Richness' your breakfast" she snarled, surprised at herself for being so rude. What had Van done to her to deserve such an offensive treatment. 

He spied on me in the bathroom she told herself. And he said that he wasn't interested in me

Er… wait a minute. That's not a reason. I'm not interested in him either she reasoned.

But that was not what mattered. What had hurt her was that he had talked about her as if she was not attractive at all. Although she was in love with Allen, she certainly did like, as all girls in the world, other boys to notice her. Feeling as she felt guilty and unworthy of Allen –the reason was obvious: he had left her!-, to think that other guys didn't like her as well got her close to the point of thinking that no one would _ever_ like her. Stupid, we do know, but that's how her mind worked at the moment, still lingering over what had happened with Allen, and still blaming herself for all of it.

And then, Van screaming to the world that he didn't like her. Very well, that was fine with her, but he could have shut up. So yes, there he had. For being an insufferable rich and spoiled boy who claimed that he could never fall for her. Because she wasn't as well-off as he was, for sure.

Van frowned, irritated. She didn't know him, and she was accusing him of being a snob?

"Whoa, stop it there! I was trying to help you, I may have money but that doesn't mean I'm crippled or something" he spat back, fuming. "If you're envious of my family and you have to work baby-sitting Merle to earn a few pennies, don't blame it on us" he said, folding his arms.

"What?!" she yelped. "Hey, know what? Ya go to hell!!!!!!" she yelled, taking the jug into the house, and disappeared from Van's view.

_Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?_

_Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?_

***

"And there, you have the Egzardian ruins of the city that was built here more than twenty-three centuries ago…"

"It's a  lovely place, isn't it, Goau?" Jaira commented with a bright smile, as Hitomi led the whole Fanel family around Fanelia.

Folken was listening to the girl's explanations with an interested look in his purple eyes, while Van chased Merle around, trying to catch her and too engrossed in their game to pay any real attention to what the honey blond girl was saying.

Hitomi was bored. She had had to take a look at her history books to learn and memorize some of the historic deeds that had happened in her village, just to be ignored by half of the Fanels. And, on top of that, the heat was terrible, and she just longed to get back home and go to the beach.

Something I won't be able to do with these people around! she gloomily thought, and then she heard someone calling her name. She turned to see Millerna running up to where she was, her beautiful face slightly flushed from the run. She was panting, and Hitomi proudly thought that, if it had been her, she would be as fresh as a lettuce after such short run.

"Hitomi!" she smiled, though the green eyed girl immediately noticed that the new comer had instantly diverted her eyes to where Van was. For a second, she thought in delight that maybe Millerna would prefer to get the Fanel as a boyfriend and leave Allen be…. And that meant, still free for her.****

"Hey, Millerna" she greeted her. "I guess you already know the Fanels, right?" she said, and the blonde nodded.

"I just met them yesterday, but I wasn't introduced to your children" she said to Goau and Jaira, and the brunette woman smiled, calling Van and Merle to introduce them to the mayor's daughter.

She giggled after kissing bothVan's cheeks, and giving short pecks to the little girl, who eyed her suspiciously, not liking a very bit the way she looked at his dear and beloved stepbrother.

"Hey, I was just going to my dad's house by 'the yuki', would you like to come over?" she offered to Van and Merle with a charming smile. Then she turned to Jaira with the same dazzlingly white grin. "Am I disturbing any plans you had, maybe you were thinking of doing something different with them…" she asked, her happiness slowly fading away at the thought that they wouldn't come with her. Goau and Jaira looked at Hitomi, who snorted.

"Yeah, I was planning a great trip around the defense walls, then to the town hall, the video shop and an ice shop. Nothing that cannot be beaten by a beach trip" she grumbled.

"Okay then, you can all go, but promise me that you'll be home for lunch" said the brunette woman.

"Done then! Don't worry, Mrs. Fanel, they'll be there in time!" said cheerfully Millerna, taking Van's arm and dragging him along the street, urging the others to follow them. 

Fanelia was small, but very beautiful; paved streets were full of life, bars and restaurants filling them with chairs and tables, balconies full of green plants whose thin branches hung like a curtain down the railings, like a shower of flowers over the passer-by's heads.

"We could stop and buy that ice cream Hitomi talked about, couldn't we?" asked Merle. Millerna shrugged and arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure… I guess so" she muttered, and they all stopped in front of an ice shop. 

Van asked for a mint and chocolate one, while Merle asked for strawberry and lemon, and Hitomi for a cookies and cream one. 

"Aren't you eating one, Millerna?" asked Van, while licking his own one. She shook her head fervently, as she led them to where her brand-new car was.

"Nope. It has too many calories, you  know…" she explained.

"Ahh" said Van, as Hitomi snorted and Merle shrugged, thinking that the girl was stupid if something as calories could stop her from eating something as good as ice cream. Seeing this, the green eyed girl leaned over her.

"I know what you're thinking: I think so too" she whispered, and Merle giggled, as Millerna chatted excitedly about her car, bought for her by her dad when she turned eighteen, even before she had had her driving license. 

When they were all fitted in the vehicle [ahh distribution, decided by the car owner, also important: Van in the front seat with the driver, while Merle and Hitomi got the back seats, though none of them both cared much: they had their ice creams and they were happy], she started the car and headed for the road that led to both The Sparrow and the beach where they were going.****

"Next stop: Yuri beach!" Millerna announced. "I phoned Allen a while ago and he told me that they would be there" she commented, and Hitomi's eyes brightened, still licking distractedly her ice cream.

Maybe she still had some possibility with him****

Tbc~

~~~

Many thanks to all who revieeeeeeeeeeeewed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^________________^

**Dariel**: *blushes crimson and shakes her head* I owe you my life girl!!!!! Thanks a million!! And _you_, one of the best writers around, say that you like my writing style??? *dances around the room* I feel so, so much honoured!!!!! ^_________^ nah, but I won't let you beta-read this, that way you may still want to have a look now that's posted ^.~ Yup!! I thought about the e-mail thing, it's just something that nearly anyone can understand, you always rush to the mailbox to see new mails, and it's quite often just rubbish *grumbles* hehe, ya see, yukari_rulz was one, and the other tip, this one to dragons, was Hitomi's ~@**ryuunet.com** :p Allen is mean!! But I tell you, it could have been even worse -_- imagine breaking via e-mail!!! I tell you that's far more horrible!!!!!! *nods wildly* don't worry, Yukari will go butt-kicking quite soon ^.~ and hehe, if I had know about the foam bath thing before, maybe I would have written down that, LOL!! Anyhow, *clasps Dee's hands in hers and shakes them like mad* this chapter wouldn't exist as it is if it weren't for you!!!!! THANK YOU FOR AAALL YOUR HELP!!!! *hugs you almost to death*

*points finger out at Dariel* and yooou missy!!! Hurry up with YOUR fanfics!! You know my reviews are waiting ^.~!!!! *grins from ear to ear*

**SabineballZ**: Thankie so much!!!!!!! *blushes* And I found Ferrara!!! ^^U it took me a while, but I did in the end *triumphal grin, waving her atlas in her hand* yeah, I just couldn't let those two have a normal meeting!!! ^.~ I hope that you liked this one as well!!!!

**Toni**: *blushes* yes!!! That's it, Merle and Jaira share hair colour and eye colour ^__^ and you'll see later on what happened to poor Folkie-sama and Van-chan's mum… Ah, believe me, I would kill Allen myself for what she did to the poor girl, but that's what Yukari's in for!! ^_~

**Fuzzie**: thanks a million!!!! ^_____^ so glad that you actually like it!!!

**Cyber1**: yup! Lol, it _is_ going to be a reeeeaaally long summer for all of them, I'm kinda addicted to emotional roller coasters so she'll go through a heck of problems from now on… I already said I was going to be evil here hehehe… *cackles* and you could change your name so I guess you did manage ^.^ 

**caitie**: thank u!!! *sigh* sorry for not updating sooner but I was stuck!!! If it hadn't been for some help [*hugs Dariel*] I wouldn't have had it ready for now! Lol!! I would also kill to be in the sandal's place ^_~ and thanks again for the lovely review!! *grins*

**Cev**: Yees!! Of course I would listen to you ^.^ in fact I suffered from writer's block but in the end I managed… thank you tons for reviewing *grins like mad* and hehe, I'll leave some questions unanswered so that you can see for yourself ^_~ but yes, they're good brothers!! Range of likes and dislikes about Jaira is something more complicated so you'll see ^^ aandd… *Ryuu kills the pretty boy with Cev* that was something I also had to do!! *sigh*

**deathwings**:  *grinning* thank you tons, so glad that you like it!!!! ^____^

**snow blossoms**:*blushes and smiles* thank you!!!!! ^__^ Ahem ^^U yeah, fluff will come ^.~ eventually… and thank you so much for the suggestions!!! Yay!, I'll include some of those in following chapters ^___^ as you see there's gonna come one in the next one ^^ I had come up with your same idea when I wrote this, so feel free to tell me any other ideas you have!!! *grins like mad*

_A/N: Heeeeeeyy how did you like it?? I loved this chapter, mainly the first part, the cistern part was necessary though I suddenly felt the urge to delete it when I had finished it, but it has to be there, believe me! If they don't fight a bit, it's not fun to get them together afterwards. Ah, you didn't think for a minute that I'm going to get Hitomi with Allen, didn't you? Because I'm NOT ^_^, later on I'll see what happens to Allen. I want to get Yukari into the story really badly, she'll be justice's hand, mwahahahaha… but she can't come in yet… just a few more chappies, be patient *grins* I'm sorry if Millerna is turning to be a little bit… well, you have read it ^^U I like the character but I needed someone to have that role in the story, and she was perfect for it so… _

This was done in a day and I ended up really tired ú_ù so plz, plz make it worthy and, hey, click on the nice button down this and send me a nice REVIEW onegai ^___^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ideas, suggestions, comments, flames… all welcome [okay, some slightly more welcome than others ^^U]

_Till next time!!!!!!!!_

_Ryuu ^^_

_PS: short, short song extract from Smashmouth song with the very same name ^^, again as chappie title hehe_

_Ahem… I reposted this to correct some things I had forgotten to fix *sweatdrops* I'm sorry for that… anyway, I'll update as soon as possible, but with college coming over I dunno how soon that will be…_


	4. Seven Seas

**Disclaimer: Why can't my prayers be answered?? I want to own Van [and Capt'n Jack Sparrow] *drools buckets* but I do not U__U…** **AN/ Aye, kick me, punch me, ye 'ave all the right in the world U_U I know I know… I 'aven't updated this in ages! *shakes head* I just had this chapter half-finished at the end o' September, but… the muse decided te fly away, so it was kinda half forgotten, waitin' fer the muse te come back *groans* an' this Christmas I decided it was 'bout time te finish it… but 'nyway, this year is me first year o' college, an' I'm gonna dedicate meself te studyin' quite a lot, an' I dunno how much time left te write I'll 'ave… other years I just stopped writing until the following summer, what I do this year depends on you, if ye want me to update or not ^_^ An' oh, many many thanks te ye ppl who reviewed this… even though ye've probably forgotten it ever existed ^^UU… sorry!! *falls on knees***   
  
  


~…···¨···…~ 

**Natsu no E ~ Picture of Summer.**   
  
** ~ Chapter 3. ~ Seven Seas**   
**** Shutting the door violently, she let out a small frustrated groan; a second later, her head had disappeared in a drawer of her wardrobe. While as Millerna had asked for a bathroom to change into her bikini, which she carried in her car 'just in case', Merle and Van had also gone to their respective rooms to get changed. The honey blonde sighed, recalling what had happened earlier that morning; she was starting to regret her harsh words, realising that she hadn't truly meant them. She had been angry and had poured it all out on the first person she'd found, who'd happened to be the raven-haired boy. 

Maybe I should apologize…> she thought, biting her lower lip pensively. Okay, she could be angry with him, but now she recognized that she had taken things too far. 

The intermittent red light that glowed on her cell phone reminded her that she had forgotten to take the device with her that morning, and that someone had been desperately trying to contact her. 

Hitomi picked up the phone, checking the last call's number and gasped. 

Ugh, I forgot to call mum!> she realised, suddenly remembering that she still hadn't talked with her mother about how things were going at The Sparrow. She quickly dialled the sequence and waited. She didn't have to wait for long, though. 

"Hitomi!" Sachiko Kanzaki's voice was slightly irritated, and she bit her lip in anticipation of what was to come. "What were you thinking about?! I've been trying to speak with you the whole morning! I've called about a thousand times to the house, and another hundred to your cell phone, you had me worried!!" she yelled; then, as she noticed that several of her co-workers had left their tasks to openly stare at her, she sat down on her chair and picked up a pen from her desk, starting to make funny tapping noises on the wooden surface. 

"I'm sorry mum, I just forgot to bring the mobile phone with me and I brought the Fanels down to the village," she explained, sitting on her bed. 

Her mother drew out an exasperated sigh and then smiled, shaking her head. "You're hopeless, child," she chuckled while she crossed her legs and relaxed on her seat. "Okay darling, now tell me how are things going… everything all right?" 

Hitomi arched her eyebrows, searching for the right word to describe the current situation and finally settling for a short summary. "Err… the couple's nice, cook nice crêpes. Girl quite spoiled but not really bad, seems nice too; elder guy, I haven't seen much of him, it's okay. Ahem, younger boy…" she trailed off, realising that her mum wouldn't like what she had to tell about Van. "… we are going to the beach now! Serena started a new diet-" she tried to change the subject, but Sachiko knew her daughter too well. 

"Hitomii… _what_ with the younger boy?" she pressed, and the blonde girl sighed in defeat. 

"Let's say… let's say we have some differences… lots of 'em, rather," she gulped; she could perfectly picture her mother's face, eyebrow cocked up and with that look in her eyes in which she could read 'yes-dear-go-on-or-die'. The green-eyed girl gulped again. "I… I tried to hit him with a shoe. Oh, and with a stick and an ashtray later on," she smiled sheepishly, waiting for the storm to start, but there was none. Her mother was silent for a few seconds, and when Hitomi was starting to seriously consider if there was some kind of problem with the phone, Sachiko spoke again. 

"… sorry dear, I think I did not catch the last words you said…" said the woman with a slightly mystified expression. "You did _not_ just say that you _threw a shoe_ at the boy, right?" 

"Err… well technically _yes_ but it did not hit him," the girl hurried to explain, crossing her fingers and praying for her mother to stay as calm as she was now. 

Heh. Oh yes, dream on, Hitomi. 

"WHAT?!" yelped Sachiko angrily. "… I guess you apologized and now are in good terms," she said, a dangerously threatening edge in her voice, and her daughter sniggered uneasily. 

"Well… I sent him to hell last time we really talked…" 

"HITOMI KANZAKI!! What the heck do you thing you are doing?! For heaven's sake, you are working for them and they are paying us, and you too!!" the blue-eyed woman stood up again, and this time she didn't even see the questioning and puzzled faces that gaped at her. "I'm not asking you to actually _like_ the boy but I want this to be the last time I learn that you have insulted him of tried to hit him, understood?" 

The honey blonde frowned pursing her lips. "Mum I was already going to apologize!" she complained furiously. "Would you please stop telling me what to do?! I KNOW all that, I swear I was going to fix things with the guy, if you just trusted me!!" she whined, scowling. 

"Hitomi, everything okay? Are you ready?" Millerna's voice asked from the porch, and the green-eyed girl blushed crimson. OhmygoshifVanwasoutthereIwannadie…> 

"Dear, I do trust you, it's that damn short temper of yours what I don't," Sachiko sighed. 

"I promise I'll try to get a grip on myself, mum. Gotta go now, talk to you later okay?" and after that she hung up and left the cell phone again on the wooden desk. 

Still gotta dress… or undress, actually.> 

But as she had no real time to decide what to put on, she finally picked her dark blue swimming costume and slipped into it in no time; her feet searched for the flip-flops on the floor under her bed while she fumbled to put on a short mauve T-shirt. 

"Ready in a sec!" she shouted, and exactly six seconds later she was out of her room, face flushed, hair dishevelled and half-losing a flip-flop off her left foot. 

Millerna stood next to Merle with a small grin on her lips; the blonde was wearing a tiny bikini in red and black and a pair of expensive sandals on her feet. The younger Fanel was clad in a simple blue summer dress with thin straps, under which the swimming costume ones could be seen. 

"Mm, where's Van?" the honey blonde asked, and the girl with mauve eyes gave her another one of her dashingly white smiles. 

"Waiting for us in the car. We got towels for you three as you weren't coming to fetch them yourself," she explained, and Hitomi wanted to punch her. Oh, how she hated those ironic comments… and even more if the person to make them was as pretty as the blonde in front of her, and were said in a tone which wanted to sound innocent. 

"Yeah, of course," she mumbled, rolling her eyes as she followed the two girls to the gates. 

Yeepie, beach day> the green-eyed girl groaned inwardly as they reached the vehicle with Van inside [no girls, he has a T-shirt on yet ^^U… but not for much longer, hehehe *cackles*].   
  
  
  


~…···¨···…~ 

"You see this house here, Van? This is my summer… my summer residence," chatted Millerna as Van stared at the building the blonde was pointing at. It was huge. No, even bigger than that, he decided, his eyes wide and round as saucers. 

They were walking down the concrete slope which connected the road with the sandy beach below, laughs and lively shouts filling their ears as they drew nearer and nearer the seashore. 

Hitomi rolled her eyes, and tugged a few loose strands behind her ear, trying to ignore the other blonde's remarks about her impressive summer house. Well, nobody could ever deny that: the massive mansion which stood to their left, less than 20 meters away from the seashore, had been her golden dream when she was a kid. She would've given anything to have that house, but she was no different from the rest of teenagers in Fanelia, as they ALL wanted that house. So, "Big Mansion in the Yuri" was another item in the list "Why we can't stand Astons". 

"Hey, Hitomi, I love your swimming costume," grinned the mauve-eyed girl, and the honey blonde smiled shyly, taken completely off-guard. A compliment from the prettiest girl in Fanelia was the last thing she had been expecting, but she blushed uncomfortably when she felt the raven haired boy's warm gaze on her. Why can't you look somewhere else?> she groaned inwardly, biting her lip. Oh, how she hated people staring at her! It made her nervous, feeling as if made of jelly, and if the observers were boys, the effects only seemed to double. 

"… but I dare say that colour doesn't suit you much," went on Millerna frowning. 

"What's wrong with dark blue?" asked the other girl with a slight note of annoyance in her voice. Hah, and she had been so innocent to actually believe that Millerna could sincerely praise her… 

The pale blonde waved her hand as if trying to play her words down a bit. "Oh, no, nothing at all, but I think greens go better with your eyes," she declared, and the emerald eyed girl sighed in relief. Not so fast, dear... "I know, dark colours make you look thinner, _ne_? And it works wonders on you I must say, don't you think so, Van?" 

Have you ever wanted to shake, punch and strangle someone to death? …face first paling to deadly white, then turning bright red, evolving towards a pretty strange purplish colour… Van let out a nervous snigger, his eyes on Millerna, then Hitomi and then the pale blonde again. "Emm… guess so," he murmured uneasily, unsure of what the looks in the girls' eyes meant. Okay, he could read the green ones: it plainly said there 'You are sooo DEAD'. "Oh, sister, are you never going to change?" asked in a shout a calm and soft voice from their right. The group had reached the sand at last: the beach was quite packed, full of straw sunshades and hammocks. There was also a volleyball net and a refreshment stand where you could buy ice-cream, water or fizzy drinks, with a few old wooden stools to sit down. In one of them Van could see a beautiful blond girl, herstraight hair even a paler shade than that of Millerna's, with stunning dark blue eyes and an amused smile on her full lips. She was wearing an elegant dark blue swimming suit with an horizontal wide cream stripe on it and a long mauve beach wrap. She was holding a glass full of coke, with some ice cubes and a slice of lemon in it. 

"Eries!" smiled Hitomi, recognizing her voice as the one who had reprimanded Millerna. 

"And who are you?" asked Merle suspiciously, grabbing her stepbrother's arm fiercely. What was this?! She had been glad to come to Fanelia, thinking that this way they could avoid the crazy stupid giggling girls who chased Van and Folken non-stop, but that was proving to be somewhat impossible. Were all girls here idiots or what?! There was no girl who could be worthy of her beloved brother, but she found it difficult to make them understand that. 

The auburn eyed boy grinned, tousling his little sister's messy hair, and stooped a bit to whisper in her ear. "Hey, you don't need to scratch them, huh," he smiled mischievously. 

The girl called Eries walked up to them, her movements graceful and elegant, and Hitomi couldn't help but stare at her in admiration; she had always liked the middle sister of the Aston family, always so calm and collected, and with that air around her that made her… special. The girl with dark cerulean eyes walked to Merle and extended her hand in a friendly manner. 

"I'm Eries Aston, Millerna's sister," she smiled. "And you must be the Fanels, right? It's my pleasure to meet you." Then she turned to Hitomi with a broad grin. "I heard from Millerna that you'll be staying around for the whole summer with them," she commented, and the green-eyed girl nodded. 

"Yeah, until cold September," she snorted, forcing a neutral expression to hide the pained one which had immediately appeared on her features when she thought of the meaning of her words: two whole months with the Fanels. 

"Hey love, glad te have ye back!" said a boy with chestnut brown hair and deep green eyes wearing round glasses, a broad smile plastered on his face. He came out of the refreshment stand wiping his hands in a former white cloth and walked straight to where they were. 

"Dryden!" laughed Hitomi while the boy delicately took and ceremoniously kissed the back of her hand. "It's good to see you!" 

"I was serving Ice Princess here a choc ice and suddenly she was gone," he grinned, gesturing with his hands in a funny way which made the green-eyed girl and Merle laugh. "But I see you brought new clients to my stand! And who may this pretty miss here be?" he asked, smiling at the brunette little girl who giggled in return. 

"I'm Merle Fanel, and this is my brother Van," she said, blushing a little when Dryden repeated what he had done with Hitomi's hand, this time with the small girl. "And you are a very funny guy." 

Van smacked her sister lightly on the head, but the brown haired boy laughed heartily. 

"My name is Dryden, sweetie, but you can call me Dry if you want to," he winked. Then he turned to Van and offered his hand to shake the newcomer's one. "Dryden Fassa at your service. This thing-sorta-refreshment stand ye see here is mine… ehmsortof," he smiled a crooked smile at Eries' mockingly warning look. The funny guy, as Merle had decided to call him, turned finally to Millerna, and grinned. "Hi, Milly. Long time no see, hon, ye gave them a ride in that pretty car of yours?" he asked, and the mauve eyed girl shifted uncomfortably, blushing a little. 

"I'm old enough to do what I want," she attempted to say sounding serious, but suddenly her words sounded meek and shy. Eries let out a quiet laugh. 

"Gods, Dry, we'll have to hire you at home! Dad's been going crazy to control this empty-head of a sister I have, and you can cool her down in a sentence," she joked, and Millerna blushed furiously and elbowed the taller girl in the ribs. 

"Shut up!" she hissed angrily, but then a movement caught her eye; there were three people walking down the side stairs of the beach, carved in the rock, a group quite easy to notice, as it consisted of a dashing blond boy, a darker version of the first and a lively ash-blonde. 

"Allen!" Millerna squealed in delight, failing to notice the shadow that crossed Dryden's face at that word. Hitomi sighed, shaking her head a little; she had been told she was good at reading the other people's hearts, but sometimes it pained her to see how unfair life was to some in love affairs. 

Anyway, her sadness did not last long: after all, it truly _was_ Allen coming, and she felt again the butterflies in the pit of her stomach as her ex walked down the stairs, just in a pair of navy blue trunks. She turned crimson involuntarily when her eyes took in his lean forms, smooth abdomen, his well-defined muscles waving under the golden sunrays as he moved and laughed with his twin and sister. She even thought she could catch the sparkling blue of his eyes, and there she stood, as if rooted to the floor, while Millerna scampered to meet them, her laughs ringing in Hitomi's ears. 

A small push. 

She awoke from her daydream and into Dryden's small concerned smile. "What're ye watin' for, love? Hurry!" he whispered, cocking his head to where the three Schezar siblings and Millerna were standing now, at the end of the stairs next to some huge rocks covered in white sand. The green eyed girl bit her lips and nodded, giving him a silent 'thank you' and finally walking to Allen, Amano and Serena. 

Van frowned; he hadn't missed what had happened, and the later shrugs Eries and the bi-spectacled boy exchanged. 

There is something going on with the Kanzaki girl and those people> he decided, watching her lean frame as she kissed the twins on both cheeks and hugged the girl with ash blond hair in a tight embrace. 

But suddenly a sneering voice interrupted the perfect scene. 

"Hey looook there! The ass has arrived!" 

The owner of that voice was a boy with silver hair, abnormally pale skin and eyes as red as blood, standing next to one of the volley poles that held the net in place. He had a volleyball under his arm and a scornful smirk on his lips; in a matter of seconds other five boys surrounded the first one, all wearing the same mocking expressions on their faces. 

"Hey S, how's your ankle, feelin' any better?" Dilandau laughed darkly, and Van arched an eyebrow, trying to get what was all that about. Dryden, Eries, Merle and him were just in the fair middle of the beach, and he felt like a spectator watching some kind of tennis match, incisive words yelled from one side of the beach to the opposite. 

The brown haired boy with glasses chuckled and dropped his voice to a low whisper in both Fanel siblings' ears so that his words could not be heard by anybody else. 

"'Ass' really means ASS," he explained with a snigger ", and it stands for Dilandau's nickname for the Schezars. Oh yes, hasn't Hitomi told you about them?" he asked, and Van gulped. 

"Eerrr… we haven't been in… what you'd say friendly terms," he recognized, and Dryden let out a short laugh as Eries also joined their small whispering circle with a grin. 

"So she beat you up, huh?" she smiled when he blushed, nodding in silence, and Dryden patted his shoulder sympathetically. 

"Oh, yeah, she's a sweetheart but can be really… violent sometimes," he grinned sheepishly and then pointed at the group at their right side, where Hitomi was. "Well, then let me make the introductions… those are your neighbours, the twins Amano and Allen, and Serena. The later and 'Tomi have been best friends since they were kids. And…" then pointed at the group of guys next to the volleyball net. "Those are Dilandau Albatou and his gang. They call themselves the Slayers, short for Dragon Slayers actually. They' are also the Schezars' neighbours, and so yers too, but well… ye could say…" 

"One could say that they declared an open war some time ago and that now are mortal enemies," helped Eries with a shrug. 

"Ahhm," nodded both Merle and Van, watching the two groups bicker quite harshly. 

"I never knew you had wits for plays on words, Dilandau," mocked Hitomi scornfully as Serena, flushed bright red, tried to calm her anger from rising and spilling out of her mouth in insults and swearing. She knew it wasn't right, but sometimes she couldn't help it, basically when her detested neighbour was around. 

"Plays on words," Dryden explained in another whisper to Van. "She means the 'ass' thing. Ye see, it really stands for the siblings' names' initials: Allen, Susumu and Serena. He came up with that some time ago… pretty smart I must say," mused the boy, and Van chuckled a little. "Okay, now observe this closely… it's time for Dryden to take part in the play," he winked and strode off with a broad grin plastered on his face. 

"Ice Princess there suggested us to organize a beach volley competition," his warm voice rang above the two combatant groups' yells and made them stop in a second. "Winner will get…" he mused for a second and improvised, saying the first thing that crossed his mind: "a whole hour surfing session on Milly's board and a extra-big ice," he announced while both Eries and Millerna gaped at him in astonishment. 

But, as Van observed, it had worked. The shouts and yells had stopped, at least for a few seconds. 

"Hey A, wanna try or are ya too scared of me, you pretty face?" Dilandau snarled at Allen, but he shrugged putting on an uninterested expression. 

"Wasting time playing volley with you is not high in my priority list, Albatou," the blond boy spat, indifferently turning his back on the red-eyed teenager while his lips twitched in an amused smile as he watched the two Aston sisters angrily walking up to where Dryden was and dragging him to his refreshment stand. 

"I did **not** say that!" protested Eries with a scowl. 

"Why did you say they could get my surfing board, have you gone crazy?? You know it's my favourite!!" complained Millerna, hitting Dryden on his broad chest with her fists, but he simply chuckled taking her chin to make her look at him straight in the eye and then wink at the blond beauty. 

"Aww, c'mon girls, don't ye see it worked? Anyway, Milly, yer dad can buy ye another board any time, ye've got lots of those, and I don't think they'll break it," he declared, and then he shot a mischievous smile at Van and Merle, who were looking at them smiling. "Ye know, anyone in this beach would kill to be in my place now, with the two most beautiful girls in town around me," he joked, and the Fanel siblings laughed at his words, which were accompanied by a soft punch in the stomach coming from a blushing Millerna, and a chuckle from Eries. 

But Van's eyes were looking for another girl when he heard Dryden's words… someone who, oblivious to the auburn eyes set on her, was cheerfully talking to Amano while he made some funny comment on Allen's hair, earning a mock blow from his twin brother. 

~…···¨···…~ 

_~ Flying over seven seas looking for your love_   
_cross over the seven seas_   
_Flying over seven seas looking for your love_   
_to an unknown paradise ~_

Hitomi bit her lip, suppressing a sigh from coming out of her lips. How could a man be so… handsome? Although she didn't notice it, her face bore a dreamy expression, eyes involuntarily following Allen's silhouette among the sea waves. 

At her side, Serena giggled while rolling her eyes. "Heck, 'Tomi, I can see you're still as head over heels for my brother as last summer," she poked her friend in the ribs, causing the green eyed girl to fly back from la-la-land to reality once again with a pretty blush adorning her cheeks. 

The two girls were sitting on their towels, Serena lazily splashing sun cream over her pale skin while she spied on her friend, completely lost in her thoughts and with her eyes glued to the tall blond frame of Allen, who was getting out of the water with a wide grin plastered on his face. 

"Hey, do you think I stand any chance to… well you know…" she dropped her voice to a murmur as Serena arched her eyebrows with a playful grin. 

"No I don't know," the ash blonde smiled teasingly. 

"… to go back with Allen, now that we are out of high school and all that," Hitomi murmured between clenched teeth. What a humourless joke fate kept playing with her… it had given her the boy of her dreams a year too soon. Next year would've been perfect, both of them attending the same college in Astria… Hitomi drifted back into her daydreams, picturing herself and Allen happily strolling from a building to another, then going out to one of the student bars to have lunch, kissing on the green lawns that surrounded the buildings… 

She sighed again, completely blushed closing her eyes while Serena laughed at her friend's face and pinched her. 

"Heelloo?? Are you there Hitomi?" the Schezar girl chuckled as the girl with honey blond hair flinched and let out a groan, rubbing the place her best friend had grasped. 

"Could you stop doing that?" she muttered angrily. 

Oh, yeah. Bitter reality. No Allen. He wasn't even interested in what happened to her… 

Mm, she was forgetting something… but, what was that? The feeling was there, nagging her in the back of her mind… what was that…? 

Right then, Serena's voice dropped to a whisper in her ear, her tone husky. "Ohhhhh gods, Hitomi, you sure have one HOT guy at home," she murmured biting her lip and her eyes turned into two big blue saucers. 

"Huh?" the green eyed girl turned around to see what her friend was staring at, and she couldn't help it but to do exactly the same Serena was doing. 

How couldn't she notice that before?? She wanted to smack herself for being so stupid. 

There, laughing heartily with Dryden, Eries and Merle, stood Van Fanel. And, although he wasn't aware of it, half the feminine population of the beach was staring at him and drooling. 

_And_, Hitomi thought while shaking her head in disbelief, _I can perfectly understand them_. 

He had taken off his T-shirt and was standing in a pair of plain red trunks. 

She heard giggles and slightly spicy comments aimed at him, but he was oblivious to all of them; suddenly the honey blonde let out a groan, burying her face in her hands. 

No, no, no! Stop it! I'm not like those giggling idiots> she firmly told herself. I'm in love with Allen, and he's the most good-looking boy around, no way this Fanel guy… no way… no…> 

Serena burst out into giggles when she saw Hitomi's face, punching her in the ribs."Heeey seems that you're soon gonna get over my brother," she laughed, and her friend blushed furiously, shaking her head like mad. 

"Stop saying nonsense, you silly!!!" she growled. 

"But you should've seen yourself! My kingdom for a mirror so that you could've see yourself 'Tomi, your jaw dropped to the ground!" mocked Serena, spilling some more sun blocker on her hands. She dipped her index finger in the cream to caress the green eyed girl's nose afterwards, leaving a white spot there which Hitomi rubbed angrily a second later. 

It was not true! 

Well… she had to admit that he was.. not ugly. So, what if she had been staring? There was nothing wrong in that… it was perfectly legal, but that didn't mean anything else. The way his unruly black strands fell over his eyes, that mischievous sparkle in their burgundy depths…his auburn tanned skin, smooth and shiny because of the sun oil he had put on… That was nothing to her. She did not like it. She did not like his broad shoulders, his muscular chest and the way his abs flickered with each wave of laughter taking over him at Dryden's jokes…. No way! She was not attracted to him, not a single bit. Oh, and of course she hadn't looked at his strong arms, making it evident that he trained some kind of sport quite often. 

No, definitely not. There was nothing she could like in Van Fanel. He was an egotistical jerk that lived with her, and that was all. 

"Hitomi, I think I can see a thread of drool coming out of your mouth," chanted Serena with a snicker; the green eyed girl shot him a threatening look and got up hastily. 

"If you don't stop it right now I'm going to hit you," she warned angrily, "And you know it can hurt quite a lot." 

"Okaaaay, oh girl what a temper," her friend laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Where are you goin' now?" 

"I," she started with a menacing look in her emerald pools, "am going to do what I am supposed to do this summer. Take care of the Fanels." 

The ash blond fell onto her towel, clutching her aching sides and trying to suppress the laughs that erupted from her lips. "Yeaaah suuure admit it you wanna walk to where that raven-haired god is and show all the other girls who is the lucky one here!" 

"Don't be foolish I am going to take his sister Merle with us," she said. 

"Uhuh, and then why are you as red as a cherry?" sniggered the blue-eyed girl, making Hitomi's blush deepen. 

"Umm, am I red? the sun has got to me more than what I thought… I'll have to put on some more sun blocker," she murmured, praying to the gods for her smart-ass of a friend to shut up and leave her be. Not paying any more attention to Serena, she pivoted on her heel and walked to where the group was, failing to notice the volley competition that was taking place in the sand pitch a few meters from her. 

She first glued her eyes to Merle, trying to focus, but she soon found herself looking at Van again. The way his lips twitched into a heartfelt smile, the cat-like way he moved, fluid and smooth… 

For the first time, she seriously considered that, after all, her summer could be not as horrible as she had imagined… 

Ahaaa! Maybe she could take some advantage of her position, living with the Fanels… maybe that plan of hers of making Allen jealous was not a bad idea, if she thought that the first time she had mentioned Van his ex hadn't known what the newcomer was like. Now, if the blue-eyed boy saw that the Fanel bloke was absolutely and undeniably hot, maybe… 

Her trail of thoughts was interrupted when she reached their side, and she heard some rude comments coming from the girls who shot her envious looks. 

"Hey beautiful!" greeted Dryden with a broad grin. "What have I done to deserve ye to come an' see me?" he smiled, comically bowing to the green eyed girl while she grinned back. 

"It's because you are simply irresistible," she winked playfully. "Don't you see half the beach is staring at you?" 

Dryden chuckled with a sigh, leaning on his chair. "I think it has more to do with Van than with me," he said good-naturedly as the raven haired boy blushed at his words and Merle bore an expression of exasperation mixed with pride. 

"You bet, Funny Guy! It's always the same," she sighed dramatically twirling the straw in her shake, then blowing through the small tube to make bubbles come out of the liquid. Van smacked her softly, trying to look serious but a smile filling his auburn eyes. 

"Merle!" he scowled but his half-sister merely giggled in return and shrugged. 

"Don't tell mom," she asked with an impish grin; after that the brunette turned to Hitomi. "So, what's up?" 

The green eyed girl grinned. "Ya wanna come with us over there? I'll introduce you to my best friend around, Serena, she's really nice," she said, feeling more and more nervous; she could sense Van's piercing auburn eyes on her, and she did not like the feeling it gave her. 

Merle frowned for a second turning to her half-brother with a questioning look. "… Van?" she said, as if she were asking for his opinion. Hitomi saw the adoration that shone in the girl's eyes and sighed. 

If Mamoru worshipped me like that I'd be in heaven,> she told herself with a snort, remembering the relationship with her smaller brother. At fourteen, the brat –as she liked to call him- was as bubbly and lively as she had been at that same age, but only interested in his basketball competitions and in going out with some girls. It's incredible… how can it be that he's had more than five girlfriends and I didn't go out with a guy until seventeen, and it only lasted for a few months!> she rolled her eyes, biting her lip. Allen… ugh, how stupid can I get? And not over him yet,> she sadly shook her head. 

Dryden patted Merle's shoulder with a lopsided grin. "Hey little miss, ye sure need to meet new people! Don't worry, I'll watch over yer big brother," he winked at the brunette girl and she giggled. 

"Yah, Merle, don't worry I'll be okay," assured Van trying to stifle the sniggers. His little sister sometimes could be so funny in her eagerness to protecting him… 

"Okay…" she finally gave in with a shy grin, taking Hitomi's hand in hers and breaking into a run dragging the green eyed girl along. "C'mon what are we waiting for?! Hurry!" she laughed at the other girl's startled expression, taken by surprise by the younger Fanel's actions. 

"Yeah, right," she smiled while they ran to where Serena was. The ash blonde was waiting for them lying on her towel, fanning herself with a magazine she had bought last month. When she saw them coming she sat up with a broad grin. 

"Heey how are you?" she cheerfully asked Merle when they arrived at her side. "I though this empty head here would never introduce us!" she smiled, extending her hand to the brunette. "I'm Serena Schezar, and I've heard a whole lot about you." 

Merle watched her for a second as if examining her to finally shake hands with her grinning. "Oh yeah? And what has Hitomi told you about us?" she inquired sitting at her side. 

Serena sweat dropped, giggling a little, and Hitomi wanted to strangle her friend. 

She just can't keep quiet," she groaned inwardly. Great. Simply great. Last thing she needed was the Fanels knowing what she had said about them! 

"Oh, she said that you were a lovely family," Serena covered up smoothly without any problem. "Also that you and your brothers are really nice, but she hadn't told me anything about your wonderful suntan!! How do you do it??" she whined, and Hitomi had to marvel again at her friend's acting ability. "I've been eating carrots for a week now to see if I can get a little bit more of colour but it seems I can't!" the ash-blonde pouted. 

"I don't know really…" grinned Merle sheepishly. "I guess it runs in the family, Van is also like this… oh, but Folken is pale like you," she explained shrugging. Then her eyes shone with suspicion. "Mmm… you don't like my brother, do you?" she questioned with a frown, facing both girls. Serena giggled uneasily and Hitomi put on an indifferent expression. 

"Why do you ask such a thing?" inquired the sky-blue eyed girl innocently. 

"Because I won't allow any girl to go near my brother, that's why," declared Merle heatedly while sending them warning glances: she had to make that point clear. 

The brunette girl had been through that a hundred times… always the same, the girls who approached her because of her brothers and tried to be nice to her in order to get closer to Van or Folken, and she was fed up with it. She was not going to be used as a way to get to her brothers, not ever again. She had fallen for the trick once and it had ended up in Folken going out with a girl for a few months. Luckily he left her quite soon, and Merle vowed to herself that it was never going to happen such a thing again. 

Serena smiled naturally. "Don't worry over that, Merle," she said ironically. "This silly girl next to me is helplessly in love with my brother, and I'm not interested in boys right now," she said, while Hitomi turned crimson at her words, then trying hard not to smile at her friend's last words -plain lies-. 

Serena, not interested in boys? Hah! The world would fall upon their heads before she could see that statement come true! 

But that seemed to calm the brunette, who dropped her battle stance and smiled brightly at them. Okay, if they were not interested in Van then things maybe could work between them… 

"Anyway, you worry a whole lot about your brothers, don't you? I bet their girlfriends must be really nice if you are so protective over them," commented Serena winking at Hitomi; the green eyed girl giggled, shaking her head, but she had to admit that her friend's strategy to gather information worked pretty well. She sadly thought what a waste of talent it was, as Encia didn't allow her daughter to attend that Acting Academy where the younger Schezar wanted to go with all her heart. Merle shrugged and leaned closer to them. 

"Even though Van gets tons of love-notes at school, he doesn't have a girlfriend," she informed them, puffing out her still quite flat chest proudly. "Folken's the same… girls don't deserve them." 

Hitomi snorted as she rolled her eyes, until Merle turned sharply at her, making the honey-blond start coughing to cover up her sceptical expression. 

"I bet your brothers love having a lil sister who cares so much about them," Serena smiled, ruffling the young girl's hair lightly. Amazing, thought Hitomi, how her friend could get away with doing that kind of thing and still be in good terms with Merle, when any other person would've been close to being bitten in the same situation. Well, except Merle's brothers, of course. 

It was going to be quite hard, trying to be friends with the girl and suppress the urges to kick Van Fanel at the same time. Her face went red again when she remembered what Millerna had said about her swimming costume and looked at her navy blue attire. Well, why should she care about what that raven-haired boy thought of her? It wasn't as she was planning on going out with him… Oh Gods, Hitomi, just stop thinking,> she scolded herself, blushing again, and she forced herself to sneak a glance at Allen, who was trying to drown his twin in the water, laughing. Gosh, how she wanted to turn back time and live again last summer… 

~…···¨···…~ 

Van saw it the very same moment it happened, but his lips couldn't shout the warning in time. The hard volleyball hit his sister's head and, just like dominoes toppling, her forehead connected with Hitomi's one, who in turn involuntarily hit the ash-blonde's. 

"Hey you moron, watch where you aim that thing!" yelled the blue-eyed girl angrily, all three girls rubbing their heads and groaning. 

The auburn-eyed boy saw how that guy with silver hair walked up to where his sister was with a smirk on his lips. When Hitomi's friend saw him, she jerked up instantly, her brows knotted in an irate frown. 

"It just had to be you," she hissed. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" 

Dilandau's sardonic smirk grew wider. "Why should I do such a thing?" he said in a mocking tone, his eyes focused on Merle. "It's not my fault if this girl's head was in the way of my ball… you'd better watch what you do, twit." 

"I AM NOT A TWIT!!" fumed the brunette immediately, getting up so quickly that she got one of her feet tangled in Hitomi's beach towel and consequently fell flat on the sandy ground. The read-eyed boy erupted in loud laughs, that were chorused by the rest of his gang, watching the scene from the volley pitch a few meters from there. 

_Enough was enough_, thought Van angrily, storming where Merle was while he ordered himself to be calm and collected, or else he would explode and beat that jerk to a pulp. But, even before he could get there, the honey-blond girl helped the embarrassed brunette to get up from the floor and started yelling. 

"What are you laughing at, Albatou?" she spat. "You're good enough to pick on with someone smaller than you, eh? That shows what kind of coward you are," her green eyes shone dangerously, forgetting that she was getting herself in quite a mess. 

If things got nasty, she knew she was no match for Dilandau; heck, she wasn't one of those super-girls who could fight and actually _win_ a guy… the first part, she could, yeah… fight. Hey sure thing, she had played Street Fighter with her brother a thousand times at home (and been beaten all thousand), but that was all she knew of fighting. Hah, victory was unknown dream, and even if she was foolish enough to spur the silver-haired boy's temper and get into a brawl, she couldn't fool herself to believe she stood any chances of winning. 

_Please, let him think that I'm not his size either_, she crossed her fingers inwardly, even though her angered expression didn't flicker. 

"Oh, and you live up to the challenge, Kanzaki?" Dilandau snarled, his head cocked to a side in an arrogant gesture. She wanted to kick him in his manly parts, but she was a sensible girl so she gulped and bit her lip, her eyes blazing in mute fury. 

"Well, I think I do," said a calm voice next to her. Hitomi turned abruptly only to nearly crash into Van's chest. He had a serious expression, but a shadow of a smirk danced on his lips; he irradiated a calm self-confidence, his bright mahogany eyes flickering with a spark that, if provoked, would become a real fire. 

The silver-haired boy arched an eyebrow, but his gaze turned cautious; he hadn't counted on him appearing to save the day… 

"You should be wiser when choosing sides," Dilandau stared at Van's muscular frame, obviously a fair match for his own. 

"What side I take is my business, not yours," calmly stated the raven-haired boy. "And, in case you didn't know, Merle is my sister," he declared, placing a protective hand on the brunette's shoulder. 

"Well then, and you're gonna play big-brother and try to beat us for having laughed at your sister?" he smirked, all the slayers walking to his side to back him up in silence. Van snorted quietly. 

"No, I'm just wondering if your aim is really that bad. You know, Merle's head is not exactly in the way of the volleyball…" he grinned cheekily, and the red-eyed boy growled. 

"Do you really want to know how good I am?" he sneered, his lips curving slightly upwards; his head pointed at the volleyball net and smirked. "Up to it, pretty boy?" 

"Of course he's up to it you pig-headed moron!" screeched Serena, making the auburn-eyed boy turn to stare at her. She blushed. "Err… you… are?" 

He gave her a toothy smile. "Sure thing, Albatou. Let's get started." 

Merle eagerly handed him the ball that had started all the conflict, and watched her brother in adoration as he strode confidently to the volleyball net. 

"Ooohmygod, this is gettin' better and better," giggled Serena in her friend's ear, both girls openly staring at the raven-haired boy, a gesture that was being copied by all females in the beach. 

They followed Van's movements to the opposite side of the net after having decided who was to play where, and who had the first service. Even though the auburn-eyed boy got the ball, Dilandau chose the best side of the sandy pitch, so that the sun partially blinded his rival. 

Van merely placed his hand on his forehead to shade his eyes for a moment and grinned at Merle, but Hitomi also accused the effect of that smile. She felt her insides make a strange jolt, unconsciously biting her lip; the young brunette at her side saw her nervousness and grinned childishly. 

"Don't worry, Hitomi, Van'll win," she stated in a way that clearly said that she believed in her brother with blind trust. Hitomi scoffed with a light blush. 

"Who says I'm worried?" she muttered under her breath, unable to tear her gaze away from the Fanel's form. On the sandy pitch, the raven-haired boy grinned. 

"Okay, the game starts," he announced, tossing the ball up in the air.   
  
  


~…···¨···…~ 

"Darling, could you pass me the salt, please?" 

Jaira wiped her hands in the cloth hanging from the wooden shelf, and reached to get the small box where the required item was placed. She handed it to her husband, who was wearing a white apron and was busy stirring the contents of a casserole while he eyed the pieces of meat that were in the frying pan. 

"That smells heavenly," she smiled, resting her chin on Goau's. He grinned back, turning his head to a side to brush lightly Jaira's lips with his own. 

Outside, a thunderclap echoed in the distance; in no time, a light drizzle curtained the countryside in a monochrome layer of glistening grey, and the brunette hurried to close the window. 

"Seems as we have a summer shower," Goau commented, eyeing the casserole critically as he measured the consistency of the stew he was cooking. He then picked up a wooden spoon and, taking a bit of stew in it, he sampled it after blowing on the food to cool it off. "Mmm…" 

Jaira smiled, shaking her head. The Fanel males were some of the best cooks she'd ever come across, something that was quite useful if one considered that her cooking abilities were as nil as Merle's. She was a great kitchen-hand, but the chef was definitely her husband. And now Folken and Van were also taking after their father, so cooking was certainly not a problem for her anymore. 

"Shouldn't the boys be back already?" she asked absently, cutting a lettuce into tiny bits to prepare a salad. "They'll get soaked if they don't come soon…" 

The dark-haired man chuckled while he took a pair of mittens to take the stew to the dining room's table. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be here in a moment." Then he walked to the staircase, from where a piano song could be heard. "Folken, lunch is ready! Could you come and help us set the table?" he shouted. The music stopped at once, and an aqua-blue head popped out of the study with a casual grin. 

"Sure, dad. Are Van and Merle already here?" he asked, walking down the stairs. He was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans; he used to wear white quite a lot, basically because it was one of the few colours that made him look tanned… only that the illusion was always ruined if he was next to Van or Merle. 

"No, not yet, but they will any moment," Goau walked back to the dining room and smiled when he heard the voices coming from outside. The creak of the gates faintly reached his ears, followed by idle footsteps approaching the house. 

"I kneeeeeeew it!!" Merle's voice was purring. "You're the BEST!" One could perfectly imagine that right now she was hugging Van's arm with all her might. 

"Well, he nearly had you there… did you play in a team or something?" the detached but nevertheless curious feminine voice was Hitomi's, Goau decided. 

"Van was the best of his team!!" Merle screeched again. "Kicked his butt, yeah! He will never mess with me again!" she chanted happily. 

"Couldn't resist but go and save the damsels in distress…" Hitomi mocked lightly. "A knight-in-shining-armor-complex, Fanel?" 

"Oh, drop the sword, Kanzaki, it's not as if I didn't help you too back there, you know?" Van's firm voice said. His father stepped outside through the dining room door and greeted them with a smile as they calmly walked to the garage door. The three teenagers were covered in tiny droplets of water, and as Jaira has predicted, they were quite soaked. 

"You arrive just in time," he grinned, "lunch is ready." 

Merle giggled and ran to her stepfather's arms, who twirled her around like a little girl. "Hey dad, we had the most wonderful day at the beach," she explained excitedly. "We swam in the beach, and then Van beat some stupid guy, what was his name… Albatou, I think… at volleyball coz he'd laughed at me…" 

"Uuuh, sounds impressive," Goau smiled and kissed her cheek. She sniffed the air and grinned kittenishly. 

"You cooked my fav dish!" she beamed at the dark-haired man, who laughed. 

"Some day I'll show your mum how to cook it," he promised, but the small brunette snorted in reply. 

"Bwah, she can't cook, don't bother," she shook her head with a shrug, and Jaira's head appeared into view out of the kitchen window yielding a wooden spoon. 

"I heard you, Merle!!" she said, feigning anger. "That's how much you trust your mother? Come here right away and' help us set the table." 

Merle and Goau walked into the house to join Jaira and Folken in the kitchen, while Van and Hitomi stood in the rain, as if rooted to the ground. 

The green-eyed girl bit her lip, knowing that she had to apologize, no matter how much she hated admitting that she wasn't right… well, Van's comments that morning hadn't helped much, not the fact that he'd smiled at every girl that had come after the volleyball match to swoon over him. _Yuck_, she thought in remembrance of it. _I take that back_, she immediately corrected herself with a light blush. _I don't care if he smiles at other girls_. 

She turned her head a bit to see if he was looking at her, and she found a pair of brilliant burgundy depths looking right inside her. She blushed, not used to be stared at with such intensity, and hurried to the garage door. "Gonna get a shower. Stay away til I'm finished this time," she muttered under her breath before disappearing inside the house. 

~…···¨···…~ 

Van got up from the chair he'd occupied for the past ten minutes when he heard the click of the door opening and Hitomi stepped out of the bathroom. She looked at him for a moment with a small frown creasing her forefront, and then hurried outside to get to the back porch and her bedroom. 

"Hitomi!" 

His call made her stop dead in the middle of the pebbled lawn in front of the house; she heard the creaking sound his footsteps made on the small stones when he approached her and lightly touched her shoulder, as if asking her to turn around and face him. The green-eyed girl sighed in defeat. 

"Veeery well… I'm sorry," she grumbled as she looked at him. "I should've been much nicer to you, I'm sorry I nearly split your head open with the ashtray," Hitomi added. "I'm sorry I was so rude this morning… I wasn't in the best of moods, I guess," she mumbled. 

His eyes shone in surprise, then crinkled at the sides when his lips curved upwards in a light smile. "Does that mean we are friends?" he grinned; the honey blonde looked at his extended hand for a few moments, a soft frown knotting her eyebrows. Then her scowl dissolved with a sigh and a nod of her head. 

"… let's sign a temporary truce," agreed Hitomi, taking his hand to shake it. "Only if you never ever again spy on me in the bathroom," she concluded, and was tempted to add 'and never ever yell to the world that you don't like me and that I dress in blue 'cause I'm plump', but she restrained herself and bit her lips. After all, even though she'd wanted to pummel him then, when she looked back on what had happened she understood it wasn't that serious, and even less when it came from a guy whom she hadn't known for more than a day. 

He took her hand and shook it steadily while the rain washed down on them, and Hitomi observed that his black T-shirt was sticking to his muscular body, outlining his well-defined pecs, shouting to the world 'Look at me and drool'. Heat incensed her pale cheeks when she thought of what the rain could be doing to her own clothing, and she immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest. When Van noticed her gesture he blushed a deep crimson and diverted his gaze to the ground. 

"Well then… you might want to take a shower yourself," the honey-blonde said hastily, turning to go to her room, but the raven-haired boy gave her a sheepish look and handed her a frilled bra. 

"Actually… I called you because you'd left this in the bathroom…" 

If she had thought she couldn't blush harder, she was wrong; gods, how could she make a fool of herself so easily? _Well done, Hitomi, just exhibit your collection of undergarments to the world_, she bit her lip in total mortification and snatched the bra from Van's hands, muttering a growled 'Thanks', after what she nearly ran to her room, feeling a complete idiot. 

_Great way of starting a truce…_

~…···¨···…~ 

  
Tbc~ ~~~ **THANK YOU PPL!!! For reviewing this, thanks a million!!! You keep me going ^_________^**   
**dawnsama**: *drools with you* aye, Van and Folken *sigh* and you liked the cistern part?? Yay!! I had lots of fun when writing those scenes XD and aye, don't worry there'll be lots of those moments, after all if one did not play with the charas it wouldn't be half the fun it is!! And yeah, me too would act like Merle ^^U… but if I were in Jaira's place I guess I would act the same too [I want my kitchen alive and safe! And Merle too of course ^^U]… thanks for reviewing my stories girl!!! Ye make me happy ^__^   
**Rhapsody's song**: *grins* well, it will take time for them to get along indeed ^^UU… I promise they eventually will, but, as I said *sighs* it will take its time ^.~ !   
**Avelyn Lauren**: aye, well Van isn't exactly trying to get her attention but does anyway ^^U but well, it was just a bad moment and, as Hitomi is a sensible girl she will tone it down a little… she did here, didn't she?… 

**Cev**: *grins from ear to ear* ayeee!!!! Me too think the same, stepsister's opinion is very important!! Lol, I promise Yukari will punch Allen's pretty face… eventually ;p but well, Van and Hitomi will take their time but they will improve ^^U yup yup I promise they will, but her outbursts sometimes get the best of her temper and things go wrong… Ohh *hugs* and ye gave me the idea of Allen reacting when his past relationship is brought up into conversation!! Thankiez!!! I will use that ^__^ 

**AnimeAngel707**: *blushes* sorry if it took a really looong time to update *falls on knees an' sobs*, I promise I'm doing my best!! Hope you like this one as well ^___^ 

**snoopy**: thank you!!!! Here is more ^___^ 

**Fuzzie**: *turns crimson and grins shyly* err… THANKIEZ!!! Well, they will be together, I promise, but not too soon ^_~ I like playing with them so it will take its time *cackles* they will be fighting each other quite a lot 'coz they both have a quick temper but they say that from hate to love the way's really short, don't they? ^.~ [ahem *sweatdrops* I dunno the saying in English… so I kinda adapted it from Spanish ^^U] 

**SabineballZ**: ^^U yes, it was fairly bad… but you know, when something starts reeeally bad, it can't get much worse so form now on things are bound to improve ^_~ ayee, who wouldn't enjoy a day at the beach with Van _shirtless_ *faints* and Dilly in trunks too *sighs* 

**kcarrie**: *grins* thank you tons!! Aye, I continue ^__^ 

**Aya_chan**: next chapter delivered!! Hope you like it too *smiles* 

**snow blossoms**: hiya!! *blushes* I'm soo glad you like it!! And thanks for the "_ _ _" thing, I corrected it later on, oh and thankiez for reviewing my other story too!!! ^_________^ and you gave me more suggestions!!! I had thought about getting Serena and Dilly together so you approve of that? ^_^ and the kendo lesson is going to be there too, thanks so much!!! Your reviews are great they give me so many ideas!! And thanks a million for the piccies of Hitomi and Van!!!!! *dreamy sigh* 

**Amoloi**: Oi, thanks!!! ^___^ 

**Sakura-Angel-04**: *blushes and grins* thank you lots!!! Aye, you guessed right ^.~ I think there is going to be a Hitomi-Merle friendship! ^.~ 

**Infinitis**: Heyyaaa!!!! *grins and hugs Infin-chan* I was so happy to get your review!!!!! ^___^ aye, me writing more!!! Hehe, and to tell the truth *whispers* I'm not sure as for how I got that many reviews ^^UUUU… I was surprised too! 

**Luli451**: *blushes* thankiez!! I also love writin' romantic AUs, lol! I do keep it goin', even though it might 'ave seemed that I had forgotten this lil thing… ^^ 

**Tenika Dargan**: *grins like mad* it was me fav also, that scene ^__^ thanks so much for reviewin'!! It did make my day too *grins* I tried to add the tidbits te Esca, glad that someone noticed it!! Lol, Allen an' what he did also bugs me quite a lot, that's why I'll have justice's hand in soon [aka Yukari xD] ^^ aye aye!! At least they signed now the truce, they won't be yellin' at each other so much… but a bit o' yellin' is healthy… *sweatdrops* sorry it took so long te update, an' hope this chapter makes ye forgive me! 

**Dreamboat Annie**: Hey giiiiiiiirl!!!! *giggles* thanks gazillions, if ye hadn't stepped on me toes I'd probably just left this on the back o' me mind, just cookin'… I hope this makes up fer the waitin' *grins* really, now ye can't quite complain 'bout me updates, ne? *chuckles* Merry Christmas!!! ^_________^ love ya girl! Thanks tons!   


**AN/ Oh well, 2'20 AM an' still up… must apologize yet again fer not 'avin' updated in *counts* nearly 4 months… sorry sorry sorry!! Hope ye liked the chapter though… I quite fought with some bits, I didn't like them that much an' that's why I didn't continue on the story right away… well, all I can say is that I love Dry, an' also love Van, but no one doubted o' that, ne? ^^U…**   
***wipes brow* megod! I reeeally fought with the damn son' an' the freakin' title, so there *broods* in the end I just got tired an' picked up a random song -_-… which is, btw, Nanase Aikawa's "Seven Seas" ^^**   
**I dunno when the next update will come… I'm workin' on updatin' a new fic, Chéve~feuille, an' then I think I must work on "Ashes" an' "Spell"… plus exams an' studyin'… *is depressed* I 'ave no time!! all I can promise is that I'll try me best te update as soon as possible this story, an' that I guess that, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I'll be te keep on writin' it… so, ye know what te do, ppl, click on that pretty button down there an' write whatever ye thought o' this chapter ^^ Oh, an' even though I'll update Chéve ere the year finished, just in case I'll say it here too... have ye all a very Merry Christmas an' a Happy New Year! ^__^** **Till next time ppl, this time sooner than the last!!**   
**Ryuu ^.^**

**PS: Was too tired te edit this an' was dyin' te post it, so if ye find any mistakes plz tell!**


End file.
